A Love Like War
by we4retheincrowd
Summary: bubbline highschool AU. Bonnibel Bubblegum moves from New York to a small town in Minnesota, little does she know she'll meet someone who will change her life for the better.
1. Chapter 1

**Saturday 4****th**** January 2014.**

The chamomile tea wasn't helping her relax one bit. In all honesty, Bonnibel was terrified; so terrified that she had sat in the same position for around a half hour, and all of the warmth from the red cup in her hands had slowly faded until her drink was a dissatisfying lukewarm. She wasn't listening to her parents' remarks over how easily she'd settle into her new school – she was too focused on worrying about the other kids.

She leant back on the uncomfortable wicker chair she was perched on in her father's new office of their new house, her blue eyes darting around the room. It was as boring as any usual office, somehow much more boring than the one back in New York – it was just a simple desk and chair, with her father's computer in the middle. She missed the many bookcases hung up on the walls and the calm blue shade of the wallpaper; his old office was much better than the drab room she was in now.

"Bonnibel, are you even listening to us?" Her mother asked, an impatient glare directed her daughter's way.

Bonnibel's gaze shot towards her mother whom she much resembled – minus the pink shade that Bonnibel had dyed her hair. "Of course."

"What did I just say?" Her mother challenged, raising a competitive eyebrow and sending Bonnibel a smirk.

Bonnibel exhaled. "Fine, I wasn't listening. I just want to be by myself for a little while."

Her father spoke up, and he was much more calming than her mother. "We know you didn't particularly want to move here, but I can promise you that you'll be okay at the new school. I know that your biggest worry is making new friends, and I can assure you that everyone will be all over you the second you walk into that school."

Bonnibel scoffed, but she saw the genuine smile on her father's face and managed to force one back. "I'll try to make friends."

"Thank you." Her father smiled. "You can go to your room if you'd like. You have a big day tomorrow."

She nodded. "Yeah…I'm going to go to bed early. Don't wake me up for dinner. I need to sleep off my nerves."

Her parents dismissed her, and she walked through the dark, unfamiliar house they now resided in and into what was now her bedroom. She sighed, flopping down on her warm, familiar bed – the only thing in these new surroundings that could actually give her a sense of home. The rest of her room was dull. The walls were painted a soulless grey, and she hadn't gotten around to sticking up her old posters yet. Her desk that was worn from years of use was shoved into a corner and was disorganised; anything that could be thrown out of her suitcase was temporarily residing on there. The room itself was messy; there were cardboard boxes lying on the white carpet, with clothes strewn around. Moving could never be organised, Bonnibel decided.

She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself back home in New York – she knew where everything was there. She could almost smell the hot-dog stands and hear the cabs zooming past her. She was cut off from her daydream by her mother bursting into her room with yet another box. "Put this away somewhere."

Bonnibel sighed, staring up at the white ceiling, ignoring her mother's comment. "I'm really scared, Mom."

"I know, but you'll be fine. Just wait a week – then you'll be laughing and wondering what you were scared of!" Her mother assured, kissing her on the forehead.

Bonnibel watched as her mother fumbled about with the latest addition to the pile of moving boxes in Bonnibel's room. She was momentarily amused by her mom nearly tripping over a stray wire from her TV which hadn't been set up yet, but feelings of melancholy consumed her once again. "You know I've never had any friends, right?"

Her mom leant down and placed the box labelled 'Bonnibel's clothes' by her desk, huffing as she stood up. "That's because you never tried to make any, Bonnibel. Every time we'd ask, you'd talk about how much you needed to study. Don't get me wrong – we love how good your grades are – but it would be nice to see you having fun."

"I have fun when I study, Mom." Bonnibel reasoned. "And I do have one friend."

"Your pet rat doesn't count." Her mother motioned to the cage on the left hand side of Bonnibel's desk, where her rat, Science, was currently napping.

Bonnibel sighed. "I told you I'd try here. If I'm unsuccessful then I'll throw myself into my schoolwork. It really doesn't bother me too much if I don't make friends. I just don't want to get bullied or anything."

"You won't be." Her mother assured, sitting down on Bonnibel's pink bedspread. "The kids should be nice."

Bonnibel let out a harsh laugh. "When are teenagers ever nice, Mom?"

Her mother chuckled a little, and Bonnibel finally looked to her to see her Mom smiling back at her with warm blue eyes much like her own. "You've got a point, there."

"Exactly." Bonnibel bobbed her head, a smile of her own creeping onto her face.

Her Mom touched a gentle hand to her shoulder. "I can promise you that you'll be fine. You always have been right?"

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah."

Her mother stood up and stretched, before turning back to Bonnibel with a stern look. "Unpack these boxes. You don't want to be doing it all tomorrow, do you?"

Bonnibel laughed and moved a strand of her pink hair from her face. "Okay, Mom. Goodnight."

"Night." Her mother called as she bustled out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Bonnibel alone with her thoughts.

Bonnibel almost immediately flopped back on her bed with a loud sigh, eyeing the growing pile of boxes and groaning. She just couldn't be bothered to unpack; it's not like she even wanted to move in the first place. Bonnibel didn't know how she was going to adjust from the change of setting. She'd lived in the hectic city of New York for her entire life; now she was in the much smaller town of Glassrock, Minnesota. Her parents had wanted to get away from all of the stress of living in a big city, which apparently meant moving halfway across the country. She didn't exactly like their idea to move, but it's not like she had a choice in the matter. She hadn't even left anyone or anything behind in New York.

You know, aside from her home and every sense of familiarity she had.

**Sunday 5****th**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel had always hated waking up. She hated how disoriented she felt and how her eyesight was blurry and how her senses seemed jumbled. It made her feel vulnerable, and that was one thing she didn't like.

Bonnibel especially hated waking up knowing that she had a lot of unpacking to do.

She groaned and shuffled about in her bed until her fingers touched her cold phone that had been left to charge overnight. Her fingers wrapped around it and she unlocked it, her eyes squinted from the bright light of her screen. 9:36AM. No notifications.

She didn't know what she was expecting.

She locked her phone and sat up, her pink hair a tangled mess. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, sticking one leg over the edge of her bed, proceeding to quickly hide it back under the duvet. Her new bedroom was _freezing_. She wrapped her duvet around her body and swung her bare legs over the edge of her bed, standing up. She walked across her room – still wrapped up in her pink blanket – and fished through the many cardboard boxes until she found her favourite purple sweater. She tugged it on, and continued searching though the boxes until she found a pair of grey sweatpants. She pulled them on, thankful that they were both warm and comfy. She threw her duvet back onto her bed, not bothering to make it as she usually would, and emptied the three boxes of clothes she found. She walked over to her wardrobe which had been pushed against a wall adjacent to the window, opening the doors. She frowned; there were no hangers for her clothes. "Mom!"

Her mother appeared within minutes, opening her bedroom door a crack and peeking her head around the corner. "Yes?"

"I don't have any hangers for my clothes."

"There's a box of them downstairs." Her mother told her, nodding her head towards the landing outside Bonnibel's room.

Bonnibel sighed and followed her mother through her bedroom door and down the creaky stairs to the living room, which was in the same state as Bonnibel's room, multiplied by about 1000. There were boxes everywhere. Somebody had cleared a pathway so they could navigate through the living room, albeit not a very good one, as Bonnibel nearly tripped over one or two stray boxes a few times.

Her Mom thrust a box into her hands. "There. That should be enough."

Bonnibel nodded and stumbled out of the room, desperately trying not to fall over a box she couldn't see due to her vision being cut off by the box in her arms. She somehow managed to escape from the cluttered living room unscathed and slowly made her way up the stairs, dumping the box at the top of them. She pushed the box against the back wall of the landing and grabbed a handful of hangers, entering her room.

The trivial yet tiring task of hanging up all of her clothes took quicker than expected, and Bonnibel was soon unpacking random things she couldn't even remember owning and shoving them into the closest drawer until her room was filled with empty boxes. She checked the time on her phone. 13:17PM. She was pleased with how quickly she'd managed to unpack everything.

She wasn't pleased with how she had nothing else to do for the day. She didn't enjoy being unproductive and lazy; she always ended up wrapped up in her own thoughts and anxieties which ended up overpowering her and then she'd be upset and in a bad mood until she went to bed that night. Bonnibel considered conducting a science experiment, until she realised that she'd packed all of her science stuff away and she really could not be bothered in getting everything out. Her TV had not been hooked up yet, same with the broadband.

She dug around in the backpack she'd taken with her in the car on the drive here, pulling out her book; _Jurassic Park_. She'd seen the film when she was just eight years old, and she'd only just gotten her hands on the book. The science behind it fascinated her. When she was younger, she marvelled in the thought of dinosaurs being brought back to life by science. Of course, she'd realised it would be impossible pretty quickly, but the concept of the book still captivated her.

Reading her book managed to pass some time, and she had finished it by 6:30PM when her mother called her down for dinner. The book was much more detailed than the film – especially in the science aspect – so she concluded that she preferred the book.

Dinner with her parents was as it always was back in New York – dull. They chatted with her about recent events, how she was coping with the moving, if she was excited for school the next day. Honestly, it was tiring. Bonnibel didn't want to talk about school. She knew that she wouldn't fit in with the other students. She never has.

After dinner, she decided to take a shower and go to bed early to be well rested for the next day. She got into bed at 8PM.

She didn't sleep until 11PM.


	2. Chapter 2

**Monday 6****th**** January 2014.**

Both of her parents drove her to school the next day. It was comforting for Bonnibel; at least they cared about her. When she first got out of the car, she didn't know what to think of the school. It was quiet compared to her old school back in New York, but still alive with the buzz of chatter from passing students.

Bonnibel turned back to her parents and smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

"We'll pick you up here at 3. Remember to go to the main office to get your schedule. Have fun!" Her mother grinned.

Bonnibel kept up a happy façade until her parents had driven down the road and were out of sight. Then, her smile dropped, and she let out a groan which was accompanied by her condensed breath, reminding her of the times when she was a child and she'd pretend she was a fire breathing dragon. She walked into her new school, looking around the hallway she was in.

Grey lockers lined the halls, and cliques of friends strutted past, chattering to one another. There were stupid 'believe in yourself' posters every 5 feet, which Bonnibel was certain that nobody even took a second glance at. The school was hopelessly drab, and Bonnibel already disliked it.

Bonnibel knew she wouldn't be invited to join any of the friend groups strolling past her. In all honesty, Bonnibel didn't see herself as a teenager. Sure, she was 17, but Bonnibel didn't feel like a 17 year old, or at least, a normal one. She never fit in with other kids her age because she was too into science for a teenager. Many of her parents' friends had said they'd never heard of a teenager conducting science experiments in their free time.

Unless Bonnibel found a person her age that enjoyed science as much as she did, she didn't see herself hanging out with anyone in her free time.

Bonnibel watched her fellow students as she walked past, successfully finding the main office with help from her map. She smiled at the lady on the desk. "Hi, I'm a new student -,"

"Ah, Bonnibel, is it?" The woman smiled. "I have your schedule right here. Am I safe to assume you already have a map of the school?"

Bonnibel nodded, holding it up. "Yeah."

"Okay. You can make your way to your first lesson." The lady replied. "Have a nice day."

Bonnibel walked out of the main office and leant against a wall, unfolding the crisp sheet of paper the woman had given her. She scanned it over.

Monday

Physics (Double Period)

History (Double Period)

English Literature

Chemistry

She smiled when she realised her first lesson was Physics. She'd always had a love for science; it just fascinated her. She found the room number on her map and searched for the quickest route, speed-walking through the halls to get there early; she wanted to make a good impression on her teacher. She pushed open the blue door which was marked identical to the room number on her schedule, and confidently strode into the classroom. She smiled at the teacher – a relatively old man with long white hair and a white beard. "Hi, I'm Bonnibel. I'm a new student."

"Oh, someone mentioned something about that." The man smiled. "I'm Mr Petrikov. I'm your teacher for all of your sciences."

"It's nice to meet you." Bonnibel grinned.

"You too." He replied. "You can take a seat wherever. I have no seating plan in my classes."

Bonnibel nodded and walked over to a seat in the middle of the class. She shrugged her pink backpack off her shoulders and pulled her notebook out, resting it on the table. She grabbed her pen and placed it on the desk, zipping her backpack back up and tucking it underneath the table.

She was about to talk to Mr Petrikov again, but a pale boy with messy black hair jogged into the room. "Simon," Bonnibel looked him over as she watched his attempt to bring his breathing back to normal. He was dressed in a red plaid shirt and ripped skinny jeans and looked like he'd just run a marathon, "Look, Marceline is probably going to be late."

Mr Petrikov frowned. "And why is that?"

"Well, I woke up late and I was halfway here until I realised I forgot to wake her up."

"You're an idiot, you know." Mr Petrikov stated. "Call her and apologise before she gets here and rips your head off."

The boy nodded and turned to run out, noticing Bonnibel. "Hey…who's this?"

"This is Bonnibel Bubblegum, she's new today." Mr Petrikov introduced her, smiling.

"I'm Marshall." The boy grinned.

Bonnibel attempted a smile, but she knew this was the type of person her parents wouldn't want her to get to know when she smelt cigarette smoke on his clothes as he approached her. "So where'd you move from?"

"New York." Bonnibel replied.

"Whoa, a city girl." Marshall winked at her. "Must've been pretty wild there. Got a boyfriend waiting back there for you?"

Bonnibel frowned. "No. Why?"

She could see the little twinkle in his emerald green eyes when she said that. "In that case -," Marshall began, but Mr Petrikov cut him off.

"Marshall, knock it off with the flirting and call your sister."

Bonnibel was interested. Sister, huh? As soon as Marshall left the room, she turned to Mr Petrikov. "He has a sister?"

"Oh, yes." Mr Petrikov. "Marceline. She's very talented when it comes to music, but she's extremely snappy."

"How do you know both of them?" Bonnibel questioned, unsure if she was overstepping any boundaries.

"Oh, I've been looking after the two of them since they were little."

Bonnibel was about to ask why, but the bell rang and she prepared herself for the rest of the class coming in. She knew that nobody would talk to her, but the thought of stammering over her words or embarrassing herself terrified her. She tried to make herself seem unapproachable by looking down at her notebook and pretending that she was much more interested in whatever she was doing than a petty conversation with one of her classmates.

It didn't work.

"Hi, I'm Lady!"

Bonnibel looked up and batted her pink hair from her face. She examined the girl who had just sat down on the desk next to her. She had blonde hair which flowed down to her ribs and shone like a model's when hit by the light. The girl had the bluest eyes Bonnibel had ever seen and she was quite honestly entranced by them; and most importantly, she had the widest smile Bonnibel had ever seen on her face. "I'm Bonnibel."

"You're new today, right?" Lady asked, shooting Bubblegum a warm smile.

"Yeah. I just moved here from New York." Bonnibel smiled back at the girl. Maybe making friends wouldn't be so hard.

"That's so cool! I've never been to New York but it looks beautiful around Christmas time." Lady excitedly announced. Bonnibel didn't think she'd ever seen anyone grin as wide as Lady was at that moment.

Bonnibel looked down, a sad smile forming on her face. "Yeah, it is."

Lady wasn't put off by Bonnibel's sudden change of mood. "I take it you miss it?"

Bonnibel chuckled a little, looking back up at Lady. "Yeah, I do. It was my home, you know?"

"Yeah. Well, you can always make a home out of this place, too." Lady was incredibly optimistic, and Bubblegum found comfort in this. "Do you want to talk about something else?"

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay!" Lady had many topics to converse about. "Who's your favourite band?"

"I don't really listen to much music, but I do have a liking for Ed Sheeran." Bonnibel mused. "Mostly for the music. I can't relate to many songs but the acoustic tone is calming."

Lady smiled. "Yeah, he's pretty cool. My favourite artist is probably Taylor Swift."

"She's cool. I like her slower songs."

"See, I'm the opposite. I like jamming to fun songs like 22, you know?" Lady explained. "It makes me a whole load more optimistic."

Lady asked Bonnibel a series of questions about her interests and favourite things, and when the bell rang, she announced something that Bonnibel never thought anybody her age would ever say to her. "You're hanging with me. Come on, I'll take you to meet my other friends."

Bonnibel was stunned and didn't have a chance to reply before Lady had grabbed onto the sleeve of her pink cardigan and was pulling her out of the classroom. Lady kept hold of Bubblegum's cardigan as the two of them wove through the crowds of students filing through the halls, and held onto her until they walked through two double-doors at the end of a hall. "We sit outside at breaks and lunch."

Bonnibel nodded and followed Lady over to a hill of grass where a group of about 5 or 6 kids were sat talking to one another. Admittedly, Bonnibel was pretty nervous. She may have managed to talk to Lady, but that still didn't mean she was used to socialising just yet. "Guys, this is Bonnibel Bubblegum. Bonnibel, this is Finn, Jake, Fionna, Cake and Gumball."

Bonnibel didn't question any of the nicknames and smiled. "Hi. It's nice to meet you guys."

She sat down in between Lady and the blond boy wearing an animal hat who Lady had introduced as Finn. The boy's face flushed, and Bonnibel noticed he seemed a little nervous around her. She was about to talk to him, but the boy Lady had introduced as Jake talked to her first.

"So where'd you move from?"

"New York."

"You miss it?"

"Yeah."

"Talked to anyone else here yet?"

"This guy called Marshall tried to flirt with me this morning." This seemed to elicit a collective gasp within the group.

"Marshall as in Marshall Lee Abadeer?" Gumball asked with wide eyes.

Bubblegum frowned. "I don't know. He only told me his first name."

"Don't get mixed up with him, Bubblegum." Finn warned, his cheeks flushed red. "Him and his sister are like, the biggest troublemakers in school!"

"Why, what do they do?"

"Marshall's a huge player. He even flirts with _Gumball_, for crying out loud!" Fionna exclaimed, as Gumball went bright red. "Marceline is pretty much a bitch to everyone. They both stand out the front of school smoking."

"Marceline gives me the creeps." Jake stated. "It's unnatural for someone to have red eyes."

This fascinated Bubblegum. "She had red eyes? Do you know why?"

"I think it's because that freak is a god damn vampire or something." A nasally voice coming towards them stated.

Everyone looked up, and the rest of the group smiled at a blonde girl dressed in mostly purple. "Hey LSP."

Bubblegum frowned, leaning towards Finn. "LSP?"

"Nobody can pronounce her real name so we just call her by her initials. Just roll with it." Finn blushed.

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks, Finn."

"Why are we talking about creepy Abadeer anyway?" LSP frowned, sitting down next to Fionna. "I hate her."

"Bubblegum talked to Marshall this morning." Cake stated.

Bonnibel smiled at LSP, who looked her over. "Are you new?"

"Yeah."

"Figured." LSP replied. "You're not friends with those two creeps, are you?"

"No, I don't plan on it." Bonnibel replied.

"Good."

"So what's this about you thinking they're vampires?" Cake laughed.

"Well they're both super pale and Marceline has red eyes!" LSP defended. "It's possible."

"You're delusional." Fionna laughed, just as the bell rang signalling their next class.

Lady turned and smiled at Bonnibel. "What class do you have next?"

Bonnibel fumbled with her bag, pulling out her schedule. "Uh…History."

Lady nodded and leant forward to see the rest of the group. "Anyone have History next?"

LSP spoke up. "I do, but I'm ditching to hang out with Brad."

Lady turned back to Bonnibel and smiled sadly. "I'll show you the way."

The two walked in an oddly comfortable silence and Lady dropped Bonnibel off at History. "I'll meet you here at lunch."

Bonnibel nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Lady."

Lady swiftly walked down the hall, and Bonnibel watched after her until she was out of sight. Then, she took a deep breath, and opened the door to her History class, where all of her classmates were already sat down, writing the title that was on the board. All eyes turned to Bonnibel as she scanned the room for a seat. Her new teacher smiled. "You must be Bonnibel."

She nodded. "Yeah."

The teacher went to call for the class' attention, until he realised he didn't have to. "Class, this is Bonnibel. She's new here today. Everyone be nice."

She scanned the room. All of the desks were in pairs, and there was only one available seat that she could see at the back. Bonnibel nervously did the walk of shame past all of her new classmates and sat down next to a girl with messy jet black hair which fell all the way to her hips, spilling off of the chair she was sat in. Bonnibel examined the girl. She was very pale, skinny and looked to be pretty tall. She was dressed in a grey tank top and black skinny jeans, and a black hoodie was thrown over the back of the girl's chair. Bonnibel smiled; from behind, the girl was quite beautiful. The girl was scribbling in her notebook and didn't seem to notice the new presence beside her.

Bonnibel turned her attention to the teacher who was addressing the class, and was caught up with the work pretty quickly. The teacher passed around worksheets, before coming over to Bonnibel. "This will be your seat from now on; I've already marked it on my seating plan. Most homework is individual, but for big assignments, you'll work with the person sitting next to you. For you, that's Marceline."

Bonnibel's eyes widened. Marceline, as in Marshall's sister?

She didn't have to ask when the girl's head snapped up and Bonnibel was being glared at with two blood red eyes. Bonnibel gulped, and Marceline went back to whatever she was doing in her notebook. The second their teacher left, Marceline looked up and scowled at Bonnibel. "I don't like you."

Bonnibel gulped. "Okay…"

"We're not friends, and we never will be." Marceline continued. "I don't care if we have to work on projects together or whatever. I'm not your friend. I don't like you. Don't talk to me."

Bonnibel nodded, admittedly a little frightened. "Understood."

They didn't talk again all lesson, but it was clear that Bonnibel was now terrified of Marceline. She was confused that although Marceline seemed to be like her brother; a troublemaker, slacker and one of those kids that ends up dropping out of high school to smoke all day, Bonnibel noticed how the girl flew through most of the work in class, and how instead of the smell of cigarette smoke on her clothes, there was a faint smell of strawberries emitting from her.

The second Bonnibel heard the bell ring, she jumped up and packed her things away as quickly as she could, eager to get away from the terrifying girl next to her, sprinting out of the classroom and straight into Lady. "In a rush, huh?"

Bonnibel nodded. "You were right; Marceline is terrifying."

Lady laughed. "She's in your class?"

"Yeah. I have to sit next to her." Bonnibel replied. "She told me she doesn't like me and basically glared at me all of class."

"Yeah, don't take it personally. She's just like that." Lady stated. "You coming to the cafeteria? Or do you have a packed lunch?"

Bonnibel nodded. "I have my own lunch. I'll meet you outside; I just have to go to the bathroom."

Lady nodded, and the two friends went their separate ways – Lady to the cafeteria, and Bonnibel to the girl's bathrooms. It took Bonnibel about ten minutes to arrive and meet her new friends outside. She would've been quicker if she hadn't have run into Marshall on her way there. "Yo, new girl!"

She turned and saw him, sighing. "Hi, Marshall."

He smiled, walking over to her and following her down the grey hallway. "Made any new friends yet? You know, besides me."

She frowned. He thought they were friends? "Yes, actually. Your sister isn't one of them."

He chuckled. "Yeah, she's pretty grumpy. I'll make her give you a break."

"Thanks, Marshall." Bonnibel smiled a little.

"Marsh, where the _fuck_ were you?"

Bonnibel's gaze directed onto the voice, and she saw a very angry Marceline coming their way, so she decided that was her cue to leave. "I'm going to go. I'll see you around, Marshall."

"Later, Bonnibel." He winked at her, which made her feel rather uncomfortable, but she shrugged it off and ran down the hall before Marceline could say anything to her.

She headed through school and outside, meeting up with her new friends. Lady was already there, eating the sandwich she bought from the cafeteria. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, Marshall started talking to me." Bonnibel replied.

"Didn't we tell you _not_ to make friends with the Abadeer twins?" Jake asked through eating a cupcake.

"I only made friends with one of them." Bonnibel defended. "It's not like I intended to."

"Bubblegum is scared of Marceline." Lady explained. "She has to sit with her in History."

LSP sighed. "Now I feel bad. If I hadn't ditched you'd have had me to sit with."

"You can always move next lesson." Finn suggested, his cheeks flushed. Bonnibel wondered if he was blushing or if he'd just been running around.

"I can't, the teacher put me on the seating plan there." Bonnibel said. "I'm just going to put up with it."

"That bites." Jake stated. "At least you don't have to talk to her."

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah."

Lady laughed. "Anyways, how're you liking school so far, Bonnibel?"

That was the exact same question her Mom asked her on the way home.

She thought. Her first day wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"I made some cool friends." Bonnibel smiled, and she saw her Mom's face light up. "A girl called Lady introduced me to all of her friends, Finn, Jake, Gumball, Cake and Fionna, and I met a guy called Marshall as well."

"See, I knew you'd make friends!" Her Mom smiled. "I'm proud of you."

Bonnibel smiled. She had a pretty good first day. Sure, she already had someone who disliked her, but apparently Marceline disliked everyone, so Bonnibel could live with that, and it's not like Marceline was a nice person or anything.

At least, that's what she tried to convince herself on the drive home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Friday 10****th**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel thought she'd had a quite successful first week at school. She'd hung around with Finn, Jake, Lady, Gumball, Cake and Fionna at all of her breaks and she'd managed to avoid Marshall after she saw him outside smoking on the Tuesday.

She'd seen Marceline once within the week, in History. Other than that, the intimidating girl may as well have not even gone to the same school as Bonnibel, as she always seemed to disappear through the day.

She only ever saw Marceline on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the days she had History. Of course, Bonnibel never talked to the angry girl. Bonnibel did her best to ignore Marceline, but she did enjoy the sweet strawberry scent emitting from the girl. It was much nicer than the smell of smoke on her brother. Bonnibel was tempted to ask Marceline what perfume she used, but she felt like talking to her would get her punched in the face, so she refrained from it.

She was surprised when Marceline talked to her in History that Friday.

"Yo, Bonnibutt."

"Marceline, that's too distasteful." Bonnibel chided, before she realised who she was talking to and her eyes widened.

Marceline glared at her, her blood red eyes burning into Bonnibel's blue ones. "What'd you get for question 9?"

"Do it yourself." Honestly, Bonnibel was terrified that Marceline was going to kill her for being stubborn.

"I have. I put Stalin." Marceline said. "I just want to know if that's right or not."

"Oh." Bonnibel gulped and looked down at her paper. "You're right."

Marceline nodded and looked down at her paper, and Bonnibel felt relieved, but after a few seconds she looked back up at Bonnibel and glared. "Oh, and talk to me like that again and I'll rip your head off and use it as a basketball."

_Yep, there it is_, Bonnibel thought. "Sorry."

Bonnibel told Lady about her encounter when she met her friends outside at break.

"I can't believe you made it out of that alive." Lady joked.

Bonnibel found herself chuckling as she sat down on the crisp, frosty grass. "Yeah, I know."

"Hey, Bubblegum!" She turned to see Finn waving at her on his way over.

"Hi, Finn." She smiled at him.

"You should come and hang out with us at the weekend!" Finn exclaimed. "Every Saturday we have a movie day."

Bonnibel was about to decline, but Gumball spoke up. "Yeah, you should come. We're watching the entire High School Musical box set. It's going to be hilarious."

"I really shouldn't, I do have a lot of studying to do -," Bonnibel tried to explain, but Cake cut her off.

"Don't be a nerd, Bubblegum."

Jake laughed. "Yeah, you nerd!"

Bonnibel sighed. "Fine, I guess I can come for an hour or so."

"It's at mine this week." Lady said. "I'll get your phone number and then I'll text you my address."

Bonnibel smiled and gave Lady her phone so the two could exchange numbers. Finn blushed and passed his phone to Bubblegum. "You can put your number in my phone if you want."

"Okay." Bonnibel took his phone and typed her number in, and ended up doing that for everyone else.

She was happy; she'd never had friends before, and although this was a new experience for her, she was loving every minute.

**Saturday 11****th**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel arrived at Lady's house when the rest of the group were already there and were getting junk food – such as popcorn and numerous types of candy – prepared so they could stuff their faces during the movie.

Lady's house was very big, and Bonnibel was pretty intimidated by the sheer size of the house. It was incredibly prestigious and Bonnibel was almost certain she'd gotten the wrong address, because she could've sworn it was a mansion she was stood outside.

Bonnibel tried looking for the bell on the black door, and when she couldn't find it, she settled on the cold knocker. Lady was the one to answer. "Bubblegum, hey!"

"Hi, Lady."

"We're all in the kitchen making popcorn." Lady led Bonnibel through her gigantic house – which Bonnibel was grateful for as she was sure she'd end up getting lost – all the way into the huge kitchen where the rest of their friends were making as much noise as possible as the popcorn was in the microwave.

"Guys, Bubblegum is here!"

They all greeted her and Finn even came over and gave her a hug. "Hi, Bubblegum."

"Hey Finn." Bonnibel smiled; Finn really was sweet.

Gumball passed her a few packets of 'fun-sized' chocolate bars. "Would you mind taking these up to Lady's room? Jake's going up there with one of the popcorn bowls so he'll show you the way."

"C'mon, Bubblegum." Jake beckoned her towards the door, and she followed him through Lady's huge house and up the stairs onto the landing. He walked her towards the door at the end of the landing and opened it to reveal a huge bedroom. Bonnibel was amazed; Lady had a queen sized bed with a pink canopy that Bonnibel took a liking to. Her walls were white and there were posters of boybands and pop singers over them. Lady's room was organised, much like Bonnibel's; everything had its place. There wasn't a speck of dust on anything.

Bonnibel sat herself down on Lady's bed, placing the packets of chocolate in her arms on the floor by Jake's popcorn bowl. She stayed on the edge of the bed, unsure if she should make herself comfortable or if she and Jake would be going back downstairs. He answered that question before she could even ask it. "They'll be up in like 5 minutes. We can pick out the first DVD."

"What happened to watching all of the High School Musical movies?" Bonnibel chuckled.

"Cake vetoed that." Jake stated. "She said it was too 'immature' or whatever."

Bonnibel laughed. "It would've been pretty funny watching you guys sing along to all of the songs."

"Yeah…" Jake changed the subject. "So what's with you being BFFs with Marceline Abadeer, huh?"

Bonnibel laughed. "I wouldn't call us BFFs. She doesn't like me."

"Clearly she does." Jake exclaimed. "Lady told me about what happened yesterday and her not killing you when you talked back to her. If I did that she'd punch me!"

"She threatened to kill me." Bonnibel defended. "She definitely does _not_ like me."

Jake was about to argue with her, but everybody else came into the room with more food and placed it on Lady's rug where the rest of it was. "Guys, what're we watching?"

"We should watch something scary." Cake suggested. "Like, Nightmare on Elm Street or something."

"No way." Finn mumbled, looking down and blushing. "I hate scary movies, unless they're stupid. What about an adventure movie?"

"Comedy." Jake stated.

"I'm with Jake." Lady said.

"Same." Gumball replied.

Fionna nodded. "Definitely a comedy."

They all turned to look at Bonnibel. Lady smiled. "It's up to you, Bubblegum."

Bonnibel frowned. "Comedy, I guess."

Finn blushed, nodding. "Yeah, comedy. Good call, Bubblegum."

"You literally just said adventure movie." Jake scoffed. "Does somebody have a little crush on Bubblegum?"

Bonnibel frowned, although it did seem to make sense. Finn was always blushing around her, and he went out of his way to talk to her as much as he could. She thought it was cute, but she wouldn't date Finn. He was two years younger than her and he wasn't exactly her type.

Finn was bright red. "I do _not_! You're full of it, Jake."

Fionna laughed. "It's pretty obvious, Finn."

"Shut up." Finn shouted. "I don't like Bubblegum like that."

"Finn, stop lying." Jake laughed.

"It's okay, Finn." Bonnibel cut in. "If you do, I don't mind."

Finn smiled. "Would you go on a date with me sometime?"

Bonnibel froze. She didn't know how to let Finn down easy; nobody had ever asked her out before and the only person Bonnibel had ever asked out herself didn't take it very well. "Actually, I don't date. Sorry, Finn."

Finn frowned. "Why not?"

She was aware of everyone's eyes on her. "It would interfere with my studies."

Jake snorted. "You're such a nerd, Bubblegum."

Finn nervously laughed. "Yeah, nerd!"

Lady changed the subject by holding up her Bridesmaids DVD. "How about we watch this?"

Everyone seemed to agree aside from a reluctant Jake who murmured something about how annoyed he was by the amount of chick-flicks they watched on movie day, but he didn't complain while the movie was on.

Bonnibel was surprised by how quiet the group was while watching the movie. She expected everyone to be loud and talk over it about whatever gossip was going on, but apparently that only happened when LSP was there, which she wasn't as she was hanging out with her sometimes best friend Melissa and her on-again off-again boyfriend Brad.

Bonnibel was also pretty shocked when she saw Jake and Lady cuddle up together, and everyone laughed at her wide-eyed expression when they kissed.

"They've been dating for like two years." Fionna told her through her giggles. "They don't really act like it, though."

Bonnibel nodded. "They're cute together."

When the movie ended, Bonnibel stood up from her spot on Lady's bed. "I'm going to go."

"Aw, Bubblegum! Stay for one more movie!" Finn exclaimed.

Bonnibel shook her head. "I really should go do homework."

"If you don't want to watch another movie, then we can go for a walk or something." Lady offered. "We don't have to watch movies."

"Actually, I quite like the idea of a walk." Fionna stated.

Bonnibel smiled. "I guess I could stay for a little bit."

"We'll show you around town." Jake grinned. "It'll be fun."

They did just that.

The town was much smaller than Bonnibel had originally thought, which was surprising as she already knew it was tiny. Her friends walked her through several neighbourhoods where the houses were identical. They were all the same size and colour and reminded Bonnibel of a stereotypical American neighbourhood from some dumb 60's movie. The sidewalk was wet and the grass was frosty, and her friends' breath was coming out in white clouds and their cheeks were red from the cold. Everyone was wrapped up in oversized sweaters and coats, and Finn had lent Bonnibel his backup white beanie.

They got to the centre of town, and Lady was determined to show Bonnibel the town mall, which was miniscule in comparison to the one Bubblegum's mother always insisted on taking her to in New York. "_This_ is where LSP, Cake and I spend our weekends. You'll have to come shopping with us one day."

Bonnibel chuckled a little. "I'm not really the shopping type."

Fionna grinned. "Same here. Don't worry, they drag me out too; you can be my co-complainer. Maybe we can leave early that way."

Bonnibel smiled. "I guess I could go for an hour every once and a while."

Lady's face broke out into a smile. "Awesome! We'll take you to all of the best shops, and by the end of the day, you'll _love_ it!"

"That's what you told me." Fionna rolled her eyes.

Cake laughed. "You'll always hate shopping, we can't change that. You're just a grump."

"I'd much rather be hanging out with Finn and Jake and playing video games." Fionna stated.

Finn grinned. "Yeah! Video games are awesome."

"I kick your butt every time, though." Jake laughed.

"Yeah, and I kick yours." Fionna finished, nudging Jake with her elbow. "You both suck!"

Gumball laughed. "I just stick with studying."

Bonnibel's eyes widened for a second, and then a smile settled across her face. "Hey, me too!"

"If you want I can show you the library one night and show you the best study books." Gumball offered.

Bonnibel saw Finn glaring at his strawberry-blond friend. "Sure, that'd be cool."

Finn changed the subject before Gumball could make him any more jealous. "We should all go see that new Paranormal Activity movie down at the movie theatre! I want to see if it's as hilarious as the first 4."

Lady chuckled as she lead the group down a new street that had stores lined down both sides, each one advertising different things. "Like you'd be let into that. It's R rated."

"Yeah!" Jake laughed, taking hold of Lady's hand. "You look like you're twelve, dude."

Finn's cheeks flushed. "I do _not_!"

Cake laughed. "We'd have to let you into some kid area while we all go in. Like a ball pit or something."

The group burst out laughing, and Fionna was the one to finally calm down. "Real talk; who actually wants to go to this? I'm up for it."

Cake shrugged. "I'll go if you're all down."

Gumball nodded. "Yeah, same."

Jake grinned. "Hell yeah! Lady, what about you?"

Lady shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"I want to go!" Finn chimed in. "What about you, Bubblegum?"

Bonnibel felt everyone's eyes on her. "I don't know, guys. I'm not big on horror movies. Even the bad ones scare me."

Finn raised a fist in the air. "I'd protect you!"

"I think I'll sit this one out." Bonnibel concluded.

Lady smiled. "That's fine. You'll still come to movie day next week though, right?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "I'll let you know."

Jake frowned when he realised where they were. "You guys do realise we're headed towards the bad side of town, right?"

Gumball frowned. "Why are we going here?"

Everyone turned to Lady and there was a concerned mutter within the group. Bonnibel stuffed her hands inside her coat pockets and looked up at Lady as the girl explained herself. "I want to show Bonnibel where to avoid."

"I wouldn't mind it if we were in a car, but I feel like we're going to get stabbed or something." Fionna muttered as the group neared a block of run-down apartment buildings.

"God, I hate the stoner house." Jake stated, a tremble in his voice as the group turned a corner and walked parallel to the dirty building which had graffiti all over it.

They were just nearing the end of the street – and Bonnibel could feel how tense everyone was – when they heard a "Hey, Bonnibel!" from behind them. The entire group spun around to see Marshall running towards them, waving his hand.

Bonnibel was confused, but forced a smile. "Hi, Marshall."

"Getting a tour, I see." Marshall commented.

"Yeah…" Bonnibel nodded. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm -," He was cut off by someone shouting.

"Marshall, get your tits back here."

"Chill, Marce." Marshall shouted back. "Don't you want to talk to Bonnibel?"

Bonnibel squinted and saw Marceline stood with three other people who looked to be in their twenties and all had tattoos and piercings. She swore she could see Marceline scowling at her. "Of course I don't."

Marshall rolled his eyes and turned back to Bonnibel. "I'm just here with my friends and sister."

Bonnibel nodded. "Cool."

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Marshall asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh!" Bonnibel's eyes widened and she turned to her friends – who all looked pretty freaked out –, pointing out each one as she said their names. "This is Finn, Jake, Lady, Gumball, Fionna and Cake."

Marshall smirked at Fionna. "Hey there. We've been at school together for 3 years and we still haven't talked?"

Fionna glared at him. "That's because you're an asshole."

"Can't say I disagree with you there, blondie." A new voice spoke up.

Bonnibel turned to see Marceline stood right behind her with an eyebrow raised. Marshall laughed at her. "Good one. I thought you weren't coming over?"

"Yeah, well Guy and Keila started smoking and you know how I feel about that." Marceline shrugged, flicking a stray strand of her inky black hair from her eyes.

"You smoke." Jake stated, his attempt at sounding brave failing due to a tremble in his voice.

"For your information, dumbass," Marceline spat, her voice filled with venom and menace. "I don't. Never have, never will."

Bonnibel smiled at this, and she caught Lady frowning at her with an eyebrow raised. She ignored the blonde girl and looked Marceline over, finding herself smiling even wider at the dark haired girl's outfit. Marceline was wearing an oversized dark grey sweater with a red cat's face in the centre, and black skinny jeans. Her midnight black hair was unkempt and messy and seemed to have a life of its own, but still managed to look soft, and for a moment, Bonnibel wanted to reach out and touch it.

Jake gulped and looked anywhere but Marceline, gripping onto Lady's hand tighter. "Sorry."

Bonnibel decided to speak up and distract Marceline's attention from Jake. "Hi, Marceline. Did you do the History homework?"

"Fuck, we had homework?" Bonnibel saw Marceline's eyes widen considerably, and she found herself chuckling.

"Not really. I just wanted to make conversation."

"And apparently give me a fucking heart attack."

Bonnibel giggled, and all of her friends stared at her with wide eyes. "You're funny, Marceline."

"Whatever." Marceline rolled her eyes and then turned to her brother. "I'm going into Keila's. If you don't get your butt inside and practise with us, I'll mount it on a wall."

Bubblegum watched as Marceline stalked off over to her friends, and didn't take her eyes off the girl until she disappeared into one of the apartment buildings that Jake had earlier described as 'stoner house'.

Marshall chuckled. "I guess that's my cue to leave. I'll see you around, Bonnibel."

"Bye."

Lady waited until Marshall was out of sight and her and Bubblegum had walked ahead of the group to interrogate her. "How do you talk to her like that?"

"What do you mean?" Bubblegum frowned.

"You just say whatever you want to her and she doesn't kill you!" Lady exclaimed. "Maybe she's taken a liking to you."

"Maybe Marshall just told her to give me a break like he said he would." Bonnibel countered.

Lady sighed, her breath coming out like a puff of smoke. "I guess."

They walked Bonnibel home, and the pink haired girl got hugs from all of her friends before she walked up her slippery driveway and onto her front porch. She watched as her friends disappeared down the street before opening the door and entering her house, sighing in content as she shook off her shoes and discarded her coat.

Maybe living here wouldn't be as bad as she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**it's midnight and i can't be bothered to proof read so don't judge if there are typos okay**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Monday 13<strong>**th**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel was stunned when Marshall came over to her in Physics that morning and asked her to tutor him in science.

"What?"

"I heard Simon grading your work from last week and he was talking to himself and saying how it was really good and better than anyone else in the class and later on he came into my room and told me I needed a tutor so I picked you." Marshall explained.

"Can't Mr Petrikov tutor you?"

Marshall laughed. "No, we tried that. Even _Marceline _tried tutoring me and she ended up throwing a book at my head."

"Sounds like that went well." Bonnibel joked. "I guess I could try tutoring you."

"Thank you." He grinned. "You're a lifesaver, Bonnibel."

She smiled back at him. "You're welcome."

"Meet me in the parking lot after school today and we can go to mine and study." He said, walking off to his seat on the other side of the classroom as the rest of the class began filing in.

Bonnibel wasn't sure how she felt about Marshall. Sure, he thought they were friends and Bonnibel was nice to him, but she knew he wasn't the type of person she should be hanging around with. It was the same with Marceline, but Bonnibel did have a small soft spot for the female Abadeer – although that didn't change the fact that she was pretty intimidated by her. Marceline didn't do as many bad things as Marshall from what she'd gathered, but she'd seen some of their friends who all looked like drug addicts and she knew that in a few years that Marshall and Marceline would be like them too.

She sat with Lady and everyone at break, and Gumball asked her when she wanted to check out the library.

"I can't tonight, but tomorrow would be good." Bonnibel smiled.

He grinned. "Excellent."

Finn sat in between the two and looked at Bubblegum. "If you want, we could hang out while they all go see Paranormal Activity."

Bonnibel shrugged. "I don't know. I was planning on studying all weekend."

"You said you'd come to movie day!" Fionna exclaimed.

"I said I'd think about it." Bonnibel laughed. "I don't know, spending time with friends isn't something I'm used to."

Lady smiled. "Well, get used to it. We like hanging with you."

Jake nodded. "You're pretty awesome."

Bonnibel felt a smile spread across her face that she just couldn't contain. "I like you guys too."

Cake grinned. "So you'll come to movie day?"

Bonnibel laughed. "I guess so."

History with Marceline wasn't as bad as she'd expected. It was just a research lesson, and the teacher had allowed them to put their earphones in if they were working individually, so obviously Marceline had hers in hand and was listening to music before the teacher had finished his sentence.

Bonnibel dove her hand into her bag and searched around for some earphones, but typically that was the one day she'd left them at home. She did what she thought was the stupidest decision she could make then; she asked Marceline if she had any spares. The girl couldn't hear her, so Bonnibel tapped the girl on the shoulder. She took note of how Marceline flinched a little before composing herself and scowling up at Bonnibel. "Yes?"

"You don't have any spare earphones, do you?" Bonnibel asked.

Marceline seemed pretty annoyed that Bonnibel was interrupting her music. "No, why?"

"Oh…it's just, I forgot mine." Bonnibel explained. "I just wanted to see if you had any spares."

"Oh. Okay." Marceline shrugged and put the earphone she'd taken out back into her ear.

Bonnibel sighed and went back to looking through the textbook on the table, and didn't realise that Marceline was staring at her with an impatient glare until the girl kicked her under the table. "Ouch, what was that for?"

Bonnibel looked up at Marceline to see the pale girl holding out one of her earphones. Bonnibel frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I don't really give a fuck either way, princess." Marceline snapped.

Bonnibel didn't like the way Marceline was looking at her; it made her feel inferior and vulnerable, two things Bonnibel hated, but she took the earphone from Marceline. "Thanks."

Marceline just glared at her for a second before looking away and flicking through her textbook.

Bonnibel put the earphone in and was immediately hit by deafeningly loud rock music. She cringed a little; maybe the next song would be better.

It was. It was Bonnibel's type of music; slow, relaxed and calming. Bonnibel was surprised by this. She didn't expect Marceline to like this sort of music. She noticed the girl's black iPhone on the table between them and pressed the button to bring up her lock screen. She saw Marceline watching her.

Bonnibel read the name of the song and the artist on the screen. Clairvoyant by The Story So Far. She nodded to herself and wrote the name down in the corner of her notepad so she could listen to their other songs later.

She looked back to Marceline. She was being watched by the girl, who had a quizzical look in her crimson eyes. "What were you doing?"

"Just getting the name of the artist so I can listen to more of their songs." Bonnibel shrugged.

"Their other songs are all rock. This was just a one off acoustic thing." Marceline stated. "So if you're looking for that, you're out of luck."

Bonnibel didn't care. "I like that song, so I wrote it down."

Marceline frowned but didn't reply, instead going back to her work.

They didn't talk for the rest of the lesson, but Marceline did express her contempt when she saw Bonnibel with Marshall in the parking lot. "You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me. This one, Marshall? _Really_? This little pink princess? God, I thought you had taste."

Marshall raised an eyebrow. "We're not dating, Marce. She's my science tutor."

Marceline looked between Bonnibel and Marshall for a second, before her crimson gaze landed on Bonnibel. "Good luck."

Bonnibel smiled a little. "Thanks, Marceline."

Marshall pouted. "I'm not as bad as she makes out."

Marceline and Marshall started walking through the freezing parking lot, and Bonnibel followed the two of them. Marshall pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket, pulling one out and lighting it. He turned to Bonnibel as he took a drag and breathed it back out. "You want one?"

Bonnibel was horrified. Marceline noticed and glared at her brother, disgusted. "Don't be a dick, Marshall."

Marshall frowned. "What did I do?"

Marceline eyed the cigarette between his teeth. "You know. Don't offer people cigarettes who _clearly_ don't smoke."

"How am I supposed to know who smokes and who doesn't?"

"Look at her, Marsh."

He sighed. "Whatever."

Bonnibel stayed silent until they stopped by a red car that was slightly battered up and had small dents in it. "Who's is this?"

"Mine, idiot." Marceline rolled her eyes, jumping in the driver's seat.

Marshall went to get in the passenger side, and Marceline glared at him. "Nope. Stay out there until you've finished with your stupid cigarette."

Bonnibel didn't know whether or not to get in the back or sit in the front with Marceline or just wait until Marshall got in. He frowned at her. "Aren't you going to get in the car?"

Bonnibel looked up to Marceline, who shrugged and patted the passenger seat. "Get in, I don't bite." She flashed her unusually sharp canines at Bonnibel, who gulped a little before getting into the car.

Marceline watched Bonnibel for a minute before showing an inch of a smile, then returning to her usual scowl. She didn't say a word until Marshall jumped into the back of the car. "Will there be any more surprises on the way home," Marceline jabbed her thumb Bonnibel's way, "Or is pinkie over here the only one?"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Just take us home."

The engine jolted to life, and Marceline began reversing out of the parking space. The car was silent until they were finally driving down the road and away from the school, where crowds of students had already begun thinning out.

"So Bonnibel, why'd you move here?" Marshall asked her.

"My parents wanted to get away from the city and I didn't exactly have any say in the matter." Bonnibel shrugged. She saw Marceline's crimson gaze was half directed on her and half on the road.

"Don't you like it here?" Marshall questioned.

"I do, I just…I don't know. It's different." Bonnibel sighed. "I've never really had friends before, and here I have a lot. It's weird."

"_You_ never had friends?"

Bonnibel looked over to Marceline, who was frowning. "Yeah. Why?"

"You're one of those annoying optimistic kids who tries to be friends with everyone." Marceline stated. "Like your friend. The one that likes rainbows."

"Lady?" Bonnibel questioned.

"Don't know, don't care." Marceline shrugged, keeping her crimson gaze directed at the road.

"What're you getting at here?" Bonnibel frowned.

"How did you _possibly_ have had no friends?"

"I just didn't make any." Bonnibel replied. "Nobody tried talking to me and I didn't try with anyone else. I focused on my schoolwork."

"Nerd." Marshall chimed in. "Do you just study in your free time?"

"Yes, actually." Bonnibel confirmed. "I like learning."

"You're definitely going to help me get an A." Marshall grinned, before glaring at the back of his sister's head. "Unlike _Marceline_."

"I tried."

"You threw a book at me."

"You were being a moron." Marceline countered, casually shrugging her shoulders. "It was your own fault."

"I asked you _one _question!" Marshall exclaimed.

"It was a stupid question."

Bonnibel found herself giggling at the two siblings arguing, until Marceline snapped at her. "Shut up with your stupid laughing. God, you're so _annoying_."

Bonnibel gulped a little, and decided to stay silent for the rest of the rather awkward car ride. She was thankful that Marceline put on some music, even though it was loud rock music that Bonnibel didn't take a liking to. When they finally pulled up on a driveway, Bonnibel was quick in getting out of the car and sticking closer to Marshall.

She looked up at the house she was at. It was one of the houses that looked the same as every other house on the block; medium in size, two floors, built in red brick and as stereotypical as it could be.

She followed Marshall and Marceline onto the creaky front porch, and waited until Marceline unlocked the front door, before making her way inside. She saw both Marshall and Marceline taking their shoes off, so Bonnibel did the same, leaving them by the door.

She was surprised when she heard a shrill yapping coming from upstairs, and a little white poodle came running down and jumped up at Marceline. She picked the dog up, and disappeared up the blue carpeted stairs without so much as a goodbye, her footsteps fading until finally, they heard a door open and slam. Marshall opened the door to their right. "We'll study in the living room. Don't worry about Marceline; she'll probably be upstairs for the rest of the night."

Bonnibel nodded and followed Marshall into their sitting room. "You have a dog."

"Yeah, that's Marceline's. He's called Schwabl." Marshall explained as Bonnibel examined the sitting room. It was relatively tidy. There was a dog basket in the corner by the TV, and a coffee table positioned in the centre of the room with coasters strewn across it. There were pictures on the mantel of Simon and Marceline and Marshall when they were little. Marshall hadn't changed much, but Marceline had. In the pictures, she was holding a red plush toy that looked something like a monkey, and her black hair was just past her ears. She was wearing a red dress down to her knees and little black dress shoes; a high contrast to the Converse and skinny jeans she wore every time Bonnibel had seen her.

Bonnibel found herself smiling at the picture, taking a seat on the edge of their white couch. She shrugged her backpack from her shoulders and moved it to her lap, unzipping it and pulling her books out. "We can do Physics or Chemistry, because I don't have my Biology books with me."

"Cool. I suck at both of them so really it's up to you what we do." Marshall shrugged.

"Chemistry is my best, so we can go with that." Bonnibel smiled, flicking through her Chemistry workbook and opening her textbook onto the correct page. "Okay, so this is the stuff we were doing in class."

She talked him through the work, until eventually he could balance a few equations and answer most of the questions from class correctly. "Whoa, Bonnibel! You might be a better teacher than Simon!"

"I better not have heard what I thought I did!" Mr Petrikov chuckled as he walked into the room, setting his briefcase down by the coffee table in the middle of the room. He sat down on the second couch, which was adjacent to the one that Bonnibel and Marshall were on. "What brings you here, Miss Bubblegum?"

"Marshall wanted me to tutor him." Bonnibel replied.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" He asked, warmly smiling at her.

She looked to Marshall, who was nodding. "I guess I could."

"Luckily you won't have to endure my cooking; it's pizza night." Mr Petrikov smiled.

Marshall grinned. "I love pizza night. Every Monday we have pizza and play video games. Marceline always wins, though."

Bonnibel frowned a little. Marceline wouldn't be too happy she was imposing on her evening. "On second thought -,"

"Just because she's going to be a grump doesn't mean you shouldn't stay." Marshall interrupted her. "Come on! You deserve it from all your hard work."

Bonnibel sighed. "Okay, I'll stay."

Bonnibel quickly texted her Mom to tell her she wouldn't be home for dinner, and she and Marshall got back to studying while Simon ordered the pizzas. They were only interrupted once before the pizza came, when Marceline stuck her head round the door. "Marsh, is it cool if I borrow one of your guitars?"

He frowned. "What for?"

"I haven't practised my six-string for a while and I went to go do it and my high E string broke and I don't have any spares." Marceline shrugged.

"I guess you could borrow it for a little." Marshall replied.

Marceline smiled, a sight Bonnibel had never seen before. Bonnibel was stunned at how beautiful Marceline looked, and it made a smile of her own appear. "Thanks, dude."

She was back upstairs as quickly as she'd arrived.

Bonnibel tried to focus on teaching Marshall some Chemistry, but she could hear Marceline playing guitar upstairs, and was much too distracted by that. What Simon had told her on her first day was true; Marceline was really talented. She realised she'd trailed off what she was saying by listening to the soft guitar playing from upstairs, and she snapped out of her little daydream and looked up at Marshall. "I'm sorry, I just started thinking and -,"

"It's cool." He interrupted. "If you want, we can ditch the studying for today and put on the TV until the pizzas come."

Bonnibel smiled. "I like that idea."

Marshall switched the TV onto a random channel that the Big Bang Theory was playing on, smirking up at Bonnibel as he laid back on the couch. "What? It's science."

Bonnibel chuckled. "I guess you're right there."

They were about halfway through the episode when Simon walked in with pizzas in hand, followed by Marceline – who had two or three video games in her hands – and Schwabl trailing at her feet. Marceline put the video games on the coffee table, and Bonnibel read front of the top case; Mario Kart. Bonnibel smiled a little. Her family always got super competitive when it came to games, _especially_ Mario Kart.

Simon handed round the pizzas, and sat down on the same couch Marceline had flopped back on, adjacent to the one Bonnibel and Marshall were on.

"I'm going to Keila's after I've eaten." Marceline announced.

Simon's eyes widened in surprise. "But you love pizza night!"

Marceline shrugged. "She got a new guitar and wants me to go over to jam. Besides, I already put my bass in my car."

Simon sighed. "Be back before 10."

"I will." Marceline replied, taking a bite of her pizza.

Bonnibel wondered if Marceline was going out because of her, and she didn't want her missing out on anything. She was about to say something, but Marshall spoke up first. "What guitar did she get?"

"A cherry red Gibson Les Paul. It's pretty rad." Marceline replied. "She said she's going to let me play it, and I can't pass that up. Keila doesn't let anyone touch her guitars."

Marshall frowned. "I want to go. Why didn't she tell me?"

"She texted me about it and then said she was going to tell you but I told her you had," Marceline glanced over at Bonnibel, "Company."

Marshall sighed. "Well, tell her I said hey."

"Sure."

"Are Guy and Bongo going over too?" Marshall questioned.

"Nah." Marceline responded, picking up a second slice of pizza. "Just me. We're not doing anything band related, we're just going to fuck about."

"_Marceline._" Simon scolded. "Language."

"Geez, chill." Marceline held her hands up in defence. "It's just a word."

Simon occupied Bonnibel by asking her questions she'd been asked a thousand times since moving here, but she put on a smile and answered. Marceline ignored Bonnibel's presence and talked to Marshall about music and their band which Bonnibel discovered were named the 'Scream Queens'.

Bonnibel ignored Marceline until she stood up with her empty pizza box in hand and walked out of the room into where Bonnibel presumed was the kitchen. Marceline was back in the room within a minute with a can of Pepsi in one hand and car keys in the other. "I'll be back by ten."

"Okay, have fun." Simon smiled at her.

She strolled out of the room and they heard the front door open and close and her car jolt to life outside.

Simon broke the silence in the room. "Well, let's get the game set up."

Marshall grinned. "I might actually have a chance of winning now that Marceline's gone."

Marshall got the Wii set up and passed around controllers, starting up the game. Bonnibel watched as he synchronised two extra Wii remotes and chucked one to Simon and nearly hitting Bonnibel right in the face with the other. "Oops. Sorry."

Bonnibel laughed, picking up the smooth white controller. "It's fine. I ducked."

Marshall gave himself the main controller, and he flicked through the less important screens until he arrived at the character page. "Pick your characters!"

Bonnibel went with Princess Peach, Simon selected Yoshi, and Marshall was Luigi. Marshall then quickly skipped the next few pages until he arrived at the one listing all of the races, picking a random one. Simon frowned. "You picked the one I'm bad at!"

"Exactly!" Marshall exclaimed. "I want to win, and Marceline's not here so I actually have a chance!"

Bonnibel laughed a little. "Isn't that a form of cheating or something?"

"No, I'm just using his weaknesses against him."

"Very fair." A sarcastic drawl from the doorway stated.

They all looked up to see Marceline casually leaning against the white door frame. Simon smiled. "Marcy, you're back."

"Dammit, now I definitely won't win." Marshall cursed, slamming his controller on the floor with great force.

"Relax, dumbass." Marceline rolled her eyes. "I just forgot my amp. You can have your little victory today but next week you're going to get your butt kicked."

Marshall frowned. "What makes you think you'll win against me next week, huh?"

"Because you suck."

"_You_ suck."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Guys, knock it off." Simon intervened. "We have company."

Marceline rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the door frame, standing properly. "Have fun, nerds."

"Be back by ten, Marcy."

"I know, I know." She waved Simon off and turned around, shutting the living room door and cutting off Bonnibel's view of her.

She turned back to the TV to see that Marshall had started the race before her and Simon had turned around, and was cackling as he raced ahead of everyone. Bonnibel quickly gripped her controller and set off in an attempt to catch him up, and Simon was frowning. "Wait, how do I go again?"

Marshall waited until he was way ahead of everyone else to reply. "Hold down 2."

Bonnibel didn't let Marshall get too cocky and overtook him in the last second of their final lap, to which he cursed and threw his controller down. "Fuck! I can't believe you did that!"

Bonnibel smirked. "Did I not mention that I have this game?"

"No, you didn't!" Marshall exclaimed, his voice reaching a higher octave due to his annoyance. "Damn, I'll never win this game."

"You're good at Guitar Hero." Simon pointed out.

"Marceline's better."

"True."

Marshall glared at Simon, who shrugged in response. "Didn't you want me to be honest with you?"

Bonnibel ended up winning the game, and the game after that, and the game after that, and all of the rematches Marshall demanded, to his contempt. Simon was pretty amused at Marshall's downfall but left the room with the empty pizza boxes when Marshall refused to get up from lying in the centre of the carpet by the TV. The boy was groaning and almost sounded as though he was in pain.

"You're a bit of a sore loser."

"I wanted to win." Marshall complained. "I always lose."

Bonnibel shrugged. "It's not my fault I'm good at it."

"You couldn't have let me win?"

"Ah, no." Bonnibel shook her head, her pink bangs moving from her eyes. "See, because you were talking about how you were going to win, it made it much more satisfactory to beat you."

Marshall sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "I have to go for a smoke. I'll be two minutes."

Bonnibel nodded and watched him as he stood up and walked outside. She got herself as comfortable as possible on the couch and was sat in silence until Simon walked in. "What time are you wanting to go?"

"I don't mind." Bonnibel replied. "Hopefully around 8."

"You'll have to wait until Marceline is back; my car is in the garage for a couple of days to get serviced so she'll be your ride unless your parents can pick you up." Simon explained.

Bonnibel tensed a little at that. She knew Marceline wouldn't like being her chauffeur. "I can text my parents now."

She sent her Mom a quick text asking if they could pick her up, and her heart sunk at her Mom's reply, which told her that they had gone out for a meal and wouldn't be back until at least 10:30. Bonnibel checked the time on her phone. 7:16PM. They'd been playing Mario Kart for a good couple of hours.

"What did your parents say?" Simon asked.

"They can't pick me up." Bonnibel sighed. "Are you sure Marceline won't kill me?"

Simon laughed. "I'm sure. She acts tougher than she is."

"Can Marshall drive me?"

"If he did it'd be illegal." Simon chuckled. "He hasn't passed his driving test yet. I'll text Marcy in a little and tell her."

"I can walk." Bonnibel offered. _Anything to not be alone in a car with Marceline._

"It's fine, Marcy will give you a ride. Besides, it's dark out now." Simon replied. "And we don't want you getting lost out in the cold."

Bonnibel sighed in defeat. "I have a feeling she won't like this."

"I'll call her in a bit and tell her." Simon said.

He didn't need to. Marceline came in about ten minutes after their conversation, flopping down on the couch adjacent to Bonnibel's with a red bass shaped like a terrifying axe slung over her. She played a couple of notes before speaking up. "That guitar was rad."

Simon smiled. "Glad you had fun with your friend. What else did you guys do?"

"We went to Walmart for milk and ended up buying a load of ice cream and binge eating it." Marceline shrugged. "It was fun at the time but now I kind of want to puke."

Simon laughed a little. "Hopefully you won't get carsick."

Marceline frowned. "Why would I be driving?"

"I need you to drive Bonnibel home."

Marceline stood up, leaving her bass on the couch, her arms folded across her chest and a scowl on her face. "No way."

"It would be a really big favour -," Simon began, but Marceline was having none of it.

"No. I'm not driving her home." She snapped. Bonnibel noticed the rage in the girl's crimson eyes, and it made her want to curl up in a ball and hide away from the girl. If looks could kill, Bonnibel would be dead.

"Marcy, please." Simon sighed. "I'll give you ten bucks."

Marceline seemingly calmed down. "Keep talking."

"If you drive Bonnibel home I'll give you ten bucks and we'll have your favourite meal tomorrow for dinner." Simon wagered.

Bonnibel saw that Marceline was considering it. "Can I go to that gig on Friday?"

Simon looked conflicted, and eventually he sighed. "Yes, fine."

Marceline showed an inch of a smile. "Rad." She then turned to Bonnibel and scowled. "Come on, pinkie. We haven't got all night."

Bonnibel stood up and followed Marceline out of the living room and onto the downstairs landing, where Schwabl was sat on the stairs wagging his tail, and an amp and wires were pushed in the corner. Bonnibel grabbed her shoes – pink Converse – and sat down on the bottom step next to Schwabl who barked at her. "I think he wants something."

"Yeah, a walk." Marceline rolled her eyes at Bonnibel, before looking down at the excitable poodle. "Later, okay?"

Bonnibel tied her shoes as quickly as she could so Marceline wouldn't lose patience with her, and followed the dark haired girl outside and towards the car, where Marshall was stood at the bottom of the driveway talking to a guy with fairly long, messy, sandy coloured hair and stubble. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a grey t-shirt which hung loosely off his frame, and he had numerous tattoos on his arms as well as a lip piercing. Bonnibel already didn't like this person.

"Oh, hey Guy." Marceline nodded to him.

He smiled. "Sup, Marce? Who's the nerd?"

"Some chick Marshall picked up." Marceline shrugged.

Guy winked at Bonnibel. "Hey there."

Bonnibel ignored him and got into Marceline's car, closing the door behind her and blocking any attempts at conversation. She definitely didn't want to be mixed up with Marshall's friends. Initially, she didn't want to be mixed with Marshall, but here, she drew the line. She stared down at the floor until she was startled by a knock on the window. She looked up and saw Marshall grinning at her. She opened the door a little.

"Later, Bonnibel. Same time next week?"

"I guess."

"Okay, cool." He smiled, stamping out his cigarette and walking back inside.

Marceline opened the door to the driver's side and hopped in, starting up the car. "Where am I dropping you off?"

Bonnibel gave Marceline her address, and the paler girl nodded and pulled out of the driveway.

The ride was awkward and tense, there was no denying that. Neither of the two wanted to be in the other's company, and Bonnibel was incredibly thankful when Marceline asked her if she wanted music on.

"Yes," Bonnibel nodded, "But not rock."

"No music, then."

"Don't you have anything acoustic?" Bonnibel asked. "Like, Ed Sheeran or something?"

Marceline kept her eyes on the road but dug around in a side pocket of the car until she found a specific album. "Here. One of the bands I used to like did an acoustic EP. Put that on."

Bonnibel did as she said, and was surprised by the calming music. "You said you _used_ to like this band?"

"Yeah, I saw them live and they sucked, and the new album they brought out was just…no. I don't mind their acoustic stuff though."

"I like it." Bonnibel concluded. "What're they called?"

"Sleeping With Sirens."

Bonnibel nodded and kept the name in her head, before resting against the cold window and closing her eyes. Ignoring Marceline, Bonnibel found herself rather relaxed, and didn't even notice the car pulling up by her house until she heard Marceline mutter something along the lines of "She fell asleep? You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Bonnibel opened her eyes a little to see an annoyed Marceline. "I'm awake."

"Great." Marceline sarcastically retorted. "Now get out of my car."

Bonnibel leant down and grabbed her backpack from where she'd left it on the floor, opening the car door. She turned to Marceline. "Thanks for the ride."

Marceline shrugged. "Whatever."

Bonnibel climbed out of the car and shut the door, walking into her house. When she turned to lock the door, she saw that Marceline's car was still there. She smiled; Marceline had waited for her to get in safe.

Inside her car, Marceline was changing the CD and muttering about what an annoyance Bonnibel was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Tuesday 14****th**** January 2014.**

"You're tutoring _that_ asshole?" Fionna cried from her spot on the grass. "What has he ever done for you?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "He's nice enough, I didn't see why not. We had fun, anyway."

"Bubblegum, didn't we tell you he's bad news?" Cake frowned. "We don't want you ending up like him."

LSP scoffed. "You guys! Marceline's worse! She was smirking at me this morning and it creeped me the hell out."

Bonnibel frowned. "Where?"

"In English." LSP stated. "I looked up at she was looking at me weird and it freaked me out. Maybe she's figuring out where to suck my blood from or something."

Finn laughed. "You still think they're vampires?"

"They _are._" LSP insisted.

Lady rolled her eyes. "Enough about Bubblegum's new best friends! We need to decide what we're doing for movie day."

Jake shrugged. "We can go to mine and Finn's if you guys want."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then Lady turned to Bubblegum. "So when do we get to meet your parents, huh?"

Bonnibel chuckled a little. "I don't think on a movie day would be a good idea. They're not even used to me having one friend, let alone seven."

Gumball nodded. "One at a time, then?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "Maybe. I'll talk to them about it and let you guys know later this week. If I ask they might let us just have a pizza party or something."

Fionna nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Bonnibel decided to go to her next class early, and was caught up to by Gumball on her way there. "Are we still on for the library tonight?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He grinned. "Awesome. I'll wait for you at the end of the day by your last class. What is it?"

"English Literature." She replied.

He nodded. "Cool."

At lunch, Bonnibel and Lady ran into Marshall and Marceline. She tried to get away unnoticed, but Marshall spotted her. "Hey, Bonnibel!"

She turned just in time to see Marceline scowl and roll her eyes. Bonnibel looked to Lady for a second, who was pretty terrified, before turning back to Marshall who was walking over and dragging Marceline along by her wrist. "Hi Marshall. Hey Marceline."

Marceline grunted in response and crossed her arms, looking anywhere but Bonnibel and Lady.

Marshall smiled. "So can you tutor me next Monday?"

"I guess." Bonnibel responded. "I don't have anywhere else to be so I don't see why not."

Marshall looked to Lady. "You're going to have to remind me on your name."

Lady frowned. "Why?"

"We're friends! Any friend of Bonnibel's is a friend of ours, right Marce?"

"No." Marceline stated.

Marshall shot her a glare, but then turned back to Lady and smiled. "She's just grumpy."

Bonnibel heard Marceline scoff, and Lady mumbled her name to Marshall, who nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Sorry about miss grumpy over here, she just got out of the wrong side of the bed."

"Every day?" Bonnibel blurted out, earning her a hard glare from Marceline.

Marshall laughed. "True."

"Listen," Marceline kept her glare on Bonnibel. "I don't care if you're friends with my brother. I'll beat you up if you fuck me off, so watch your step. You're incredibly close to getting your fucking jaw broken, so I'd shut the fuck up and stay the fuck away from me if I were you."

With that, she yanked her arm from Marshall's hold and stormed down the hallway, shoving down some unsuspecting freshmen in her rage.

"Geez, she really _did_ get out of the wrong side of the bed today." Marshall commented, watching after her until she disappeared. "Ignore her, okay?"

Bonnibel gulped a little, feeling rather shaken from what Marceline had just said. "I need to go do something. I'll see you around, Marshall."

She grabbed Lady by the arm and pulled her through the school until she arrived at her History classroom.

Lady was confused. "What're we doing here?"

"I have to talk to my teacher about the seating plan." Bonnibel explained. "You can stay here if you want."

Lady shrugged. "I'll meet you outside."

Bonnibel smiled. "Okay. I'll be five minutes."

She entered her History classroom to see her teacher grading classwork, and she awkwardly announced her presence. "Uh…hey."

He looked up and smiled. "Bonnibel. What can I do for you?"

"Can I talk to you about the seating?" She asked.

He frowned. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"I was just wondering if I'd be able to change seats." Bonnibel stated.

Her teacher shook his head, and Bonnibel sighed. "I don't let people change seats. If I let one person, everyone would want to."

She nodded and headed towards the door. "Okay…thank you anyway."

She walked out of the classroom to find Lady gone and the hallway practically deserted, so she headed to meet her friends outside. The second she sat down on the grass, Lady moved next to her. "What happened?"

"I asked him if I could change seats and he said no." Bonnibel replied. "I'm stuck with Marceline."

LSP shrugged. "I'm sat in front of you, I'll just talk to you."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks."

Lunch was uninteresting aside from Bonnibel's encounter with Marceline, and she found herself wishing that their lunch break was shorter so she could get to class and distract herself. She tried to tell herself she didn't care about Marceline and what she thought. She knew that she shouldn't care, but for some reason she did. Bonnibel thought that there was more to Marceline than the paler girl let on, and Bonnibel wanted to find out.

During her last lesson of the day, Bonnibel couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted to go home and go to sleep, but she remembered that she was meant to be seeing Gumball after school. Even though initially she didn't want to go, she was glad she did.

Gumball met Bubblegum outside the classroom, and the first thing he did was smile and ask if he could carry her books. Bubblegum was surprised. "Uh, no. I can handle them."

"You sure?" He asked.

She frowned and nodded. "I'm sure."

"So how're you liking living here?" Gumball questioned, a gentle smile rested on his lips.

Bonnibel couldn't help but groan. "Do you know how many times I've heard that question in the past week?"

He laughed. "A lot, I take it."

She nodded. "Yeah. Most of the time I just smile and nod and hope I don't look like I'm internally sobbing."

Gumball chuckled a little. "Seriously though; do you like it here?"

"It's better than I thought." She admitted. "But it's a lot different from what I'm used to."

"Too small for you, huh?"

"No, actually." Bonnibel responded. "I was mostly by myself in New York and here I have you guys who always want to hang out. It's strange not being in my usual routine of going to school, hiding in the library and then going home."

Gumball laughed. "I might not show you the library if you're going to use it to get away from us."

"At least you'll know where I am if I disappear."

"True, true." He replied, "Just round here."

He put a hand on her back as the two of them turned the corner, and Bonnibel was about to question him about it, but he let go the second the library was in view. He pushed open the door for her, and the two of them walked inside. The school library wasn't what Bonnibel was expecting; she honestly thought it'd be a darkened room the size of a cupboard, but it was actually rather spacious. The books were organised in an alphabetical order and not one was misplaced, and there were sets of white round tables dotted about in the back. Gumball walked Bonnibel over to the non-fiction books and to the Biology section. He pulled out a certain book that had an image of a cell on the front. "This is the best book for science. It has everything you need to know for finals. They have Chemistry and Physics ones, too."

Bonnibel nodded, but was rather occupied by other thoughts. "Hey, Gumball?"

"Yes?"

"This isn't a date, is it?"

He was shocked, his mouth gaped open and his eyes wide. "Bubblegum, I'm gay."

Bonnibel found herself smiling. "You are?"

"I thought you knew that!" He exclaimed. "Everyone does."

"Oh." She chuckled. "I didn't know."

He wasn't shocked anymore, and was instead laughing. "You thought this was a date!"

"I didn't, I was just wondering!" Bonnibel defended. "I just didn't want to let two of my new friends down."

Gumball couldn't stop laughing. "This is hilarious."

"Shut up!" Bonnibel commanded, looking around for angry librarians out to get them because of the noise her friend was making. "Do you want to get kicked out?"

"I don't care, this is too funny."

"Seriously!" Bonnibel snapped in a hushed whisper. "We're going to get kicked out!"

He pulled himself together the second he heard footsteps coming their way, and pretended as though he'd been looking through the books when an elderly lady peeked round the bookshelf and glared at the two of them. Bonnibel avoided eye contacted and pretended to be invested in a science book while Gumball shot the woman a nervous smile. "Sorry."

The second she left, he smirked. "You thought this was a date."

Bonnibel hit him with the book in her hands.

He walked her home, and almost the second she got in, her Mom walked out of the sitting room and grinned at her almost manically. "When do I get to meet your friends?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "Can they come over on Friday for a pizza night?"

"Definitely." Her Mom nodded. "How many friends have you made?"

"Uh…" Bonnibel reeled them off, counting on her fingers. "Jake, Lady, Finn, Gumball, Cake, Fionna, LSP, and I guess Marshall. Eight."

"I'm so proud of you."

Bonnibel blushed. "It's no big deal, Mom."

**Friday 17****th**** January 2014.**

"Hey."

Bonnibel was doing her History work and ignoring Marceline as the pale girl had commanded, and was incredibly surprised when Marceline started talking to her. Bonnibel looked up at her to make sure Marceline wasn't just talking to someone else, to see Marceline's crimson gaze directed on her.

"Uh…hi?" Bonnibel frowned, stopping herself from smiling when she saw that Marceline was wearing the jumper with the cat on it that Bonnibel thought she looked adorable in.

"Uh…I'm sorry for snapping at you the other day." Marceline started, shuffling away from Bonnibel on her seat.

Bonnibel's eyes widened. "You're apologising?"

Marceline looked at her feet. "Yeah."

"Is Marshall making you?" Bonnibel asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No." Marceline said, "He's not. I just felt kind of bad, okay?"

Bonnibel smiled. "Well, apology accepted."

"This doesn't make us friends." Marceline added. "I still don't like you."

Bonnibel's smile faltered a little, but she composed herself. "I know."

"And don't go telling people about this."

"I won't." Bonnibel assured, "But thanks for apologising," She went to put a hand on Marceline's shoulder.

The dark haired girl ducked away and shook her head. Bonnibel saw her body tense up. "Don't try that again."

Bonnibel gulped, nodding. "Okay. Sorry."

Marceline then went back to ignoring Bonnibel, and Bonnibel hesitated for a second, watching as Marceline ran a hand through her black hair that looked so _soft_ and let out a sigh. Bonnibel wasn't sure if it was a sigh of relief or annoyance, and she wasn't going to question it. She was just happy that Marceline had apologised for what she'd said the other day.

Bonnibel managed to tear her eyes away from Marceline for the last few minutes of class, completing the work and packing her things away the second the bell rung. LSP spun around in her chair. "Are we all coming to yours tonight?"

"Yeah, we're having pizza." Bonnibel stated. "My parents are buying."

LSP sighed. "That sucks! I'm going to Brad's tonight. I'll come over some other time."

Bonnibel nodded and watched after LSP until she was out of the classroom, continuing packing away her things. She heard a snicker and looked up to see Marceline smirking at her. "What?"

"You're friends with _her_?" Marceline asked, holding back laughter.

"Yes, why?"

Marceline just snickered and slung her black backpack over one shoulder, sauntering out of the classroom.

Bonnibel was the last to leave, as usual, and met Lady outside the classroom where Marshall was clearly terrifying the girl and Marceline was casually leaning against the wall rolling her eyes at them and waiting for her brother. "Hey Lady."

Lady looked over at Bonnibel and relief fell across her face. "Hey! Are we setting off to yours now?"

"Yeah." Bonnibel nodded. "Hey Marshall."

"Sup, Bonnibel. I was just chatting with your friend here." Marshall stated. "Hopefully my sister hasn't been giving you any trouble."

Bonnibel let a small smile spread across her face. "Oh, she hasn't."

Marceline sighed. "Can we go? I want to go home and sleep."

"No, I want to chat with Bonnibel." Marshall replied. "And we both know you're going to fuck off to Keila's."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "If you don't get your butt out to the parking lot, I'll drive off without you."

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

"Fine." Marshall sighed, shooting a smile at Bonnibel and Lady. "I'll see you girls on Monday. Bye."

"Bye." Lady mumbled.

"Bye Marshall." Bonnibel smiled as he walked away from the two of them, following Marceline. "Bye Marceline."

She saw the dark haired girl stop in her tracks for a second, before she turned around with a small frown on her face. "Later."

Lady grabbed onto Bonnibel's arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. "Didn't she like, threaten you with death if you annoyed her?"

Bonnibel chuckled a little. "Yeah."

"Then why are you annoying her? Do you want to die?" Lady frowned as the two of them neared the school's main exit.

"You can't tell anyone if I explain."

Lady nodded. "This conversation never happened."

"She apologised today." Bonnibel revealed, unable to control the huge grin on her face.

Lady stopped in her tracks. "What? Are you sure you didn't hallucinate that?"

"I'm sure." Bonnibel laughed. "She apologised."

"You're telling me," Lady stood with her eyes wide, accusingly pointing a finger at Bonnibel, "That _Marceline_ of all people apologised to you?"

"Yeah."

"That's weird." Lady concluded. "She doesn't do that."

Bonnibel shrugged as they pushed open the red double-doors of the school. "Well, she did. Anyways, everyone else is coming over tonight at like 5, so we'll be by ourselves for an hour and a bit."

Lady smiled. "That's cool. I can fill you in on all of the gossip at school."

"I thought LSP was the gossiper." Bonnibel laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"She is, she just tells me everything that's going on."

"Well, I don't like rumours. I'm not really much of a gossiper." Bonnibel responded, noticing her parents' car pulled up in front of the school. She nodded her head towards it. "Just over here."

Lady nodded. "LSP is the biggest rumour starter you'll ever meet. Don't ever tell her anything you want keeping a secret."

"I bet she's started one of those incredibly stupid rumours which is completely illogical yet everyone believes it." Bonnibel stated.

"Yes, actually." Lady laughed. "Some people actually believe her theory that Marshall and Marceline are vampires."

Bonnibel couldn't contain her laughter. "You have _got _to be kidding me! Seriously?"

"Yeah, but they are her other group of friends who are all kind of…you know." Lady shrugged. "Like her, basically."

Bonnibel bit her lip to contain a smile and shook her head as she pulled open the car door. "Here."

Lady climbed in before her and shuffled over to the other side, and Bonnibel sat down and closed the door, doing up her seatbelt. Bonnibel's Mom was the first to speak up. "Hello there!"

Bonnibel was completely ignored as her Mom smiled at Lady from the driver's seat. Lady smiled back. "Hi! I'm Lady. It's nice to meet you."

After all formalities were aside, Bonnibel was finally back on her Mom's radar. "So, what time are your other friends coming over?"

"Around 5." Bonnibel replied.

"You didn't invite Marshall, did you?" Lady asked, her eyes wide.

"No, I figured it'd make things kind of awkward for you guys." Bonnibel shrugged.

Her Mom intervened. "What? You didn't invite one of your new friends? But I want to meet all of them."

"Another time, okay Mom?" Bonnibel sighed.

Her Mom sighed and pulled the car away from the curb.

The second Bonnibel and Lady got to Bonnibel's house, they disappeared up into Bonnibel's bedroom, which she still hadn't gotten around to decorating. "Sorry, I know it's pretty dull -,"

"No, it's cool." Lady replied. "Honestly, I was expecting some huge science lab or something."

Bonnibel laughed. "That would be awesome."

"Typical." Lady rolled her eyes. "I hate science. It's so boring."

"It's fascinating!" Bonnibel countered. "I much prefer doing experiments than going out to weird parties."

"Good, because we don't get invited to any." Lady laughed. "The only thing close to a party that we have is when we all hang out near Halloween and Christmas and just chill. It bugs LSP that we don't go to parties."

"I've never understood what's so great about going out and getting drunk. What's the point in going somewhere if you're going to get so drunk you won't remember it in the morning?" Bonnibel pointed out.

Lady shrugged. "I don't know. Jake told me it makes things more fun."

"Jake's been drunk?" Bonnibel asked.

"Yeah, it was actually pretty funny. He ran around singing all night." Lady laughed.

They talked about nothing in particular for the hour they were alone and put on some random pop songs from Lady's phone on as background music until everyone began arriving.

Bonnibel was surprised that her Mom didn't come up and annoy her friends that much. They were mostly left by themselves, and her friends all hit it off really well with both of her parents. Bonnibel was certain her parents liked all of them, which made her pretty happy.

She was surprised by how much fun she had with everyone. She had usually thought of socialising as a trivial task, but she actually enjoyed her time with Lady and everyone. She'd grown much closer to Gumball since finding out that he was gay, and they got along extremely well and had a lot in common. She was surprised when he asked her if she'd invited Marshall.

"No, why?"

She was extremely shocked when she saw a light blush on his cheeks. "No reason, I just wondered."

They didn't talk about anything specific all night, and mostly just messed about and acted like dorks. Everyone teased Finn, Cake and Lady told Bonnibel about the town and the people she should stay away from – Marceline and her friend Keila were on the list – and Bonnibel was pretty happy with herself for the night.

Although she did lay down with a sigh of relief when she was finally alone.

She'd always been an introvert.


	6. Chapter 6

**Monday 20****th**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel felt guilty when she woke up that Monday. She hadn't gone to movie day on the Saturday and she still felt bad for blowing her friends off, but she really wasn't feeling up to socialising. She was still tired out from Friday. So, she'd texted Lady and told her that she wouldn't be coming. Obviously, Lady notified the entire group who sent her a lot of texts telling her to come. She refused. She really did have homework to do.

She arrived at school early and walked around looking for one of her friends. This is where she met Ricardio.

He was a short, chubby boy whose cheeks were flushed. He had beady brown eyes that were downright creepy, and a somewhat sinister look to him. Bonnibel was extremely confused when he walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "Hello there. I've never met you before. I'm Ricardio. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Bonnibel cringed at his voice; to her, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "I'm Bonnibel."

"What's a pretty young woman such as yourself doing all alone? Surely you don't want company." Ricardio asked, a smirk which Bonnibel decided was meant to look attractive plastered on his face.

"Actually, I was just going to meet someone." Bonnibel lied. She didn't like the look of this guy.

"I'll keep you company until you meet them." Ricardio stated, a rather sinister grin on his face.

"That's really not necessary, I'm having a chat with my science teacher and his classroom is just around the corner." Bonnibel was spewing out lie after lie, but this guy was really creeping her out.

He smiled. "Okay. Until next time, Bonnibel."

Bonnibel forced a smile back and fast-walked away from the boy. When she was around the corner and out of his sight, she sprinted to Mr Petrikov's classroom and quickly ducked inside. When she turned, Mr Petrikov, Marshall and Marceline were all staring at her. "Uh…hi."

"You're here early." Marshall observed. "And you look like you just sprinted to school."

"Some creepy guy was following me." Bonnibel replied. "So I decided to come here."

Marshall nodded. "Are you still coming over tonight?"

Bonnibel smiled. "Yeah. What do you want to go over?"

"Whatever I don't get in class today. I'll write stuff down that I don't understand and then you can help me with it later." Marshall stated.

"Okay." Bonnibel nodded, walking over to her usual seat in class and sitting down, placing her backpack on the table.

Mr Petrikov smiled at her from where he was stood leaning against the board at the front of class. "Will you be staying for pizza?"

"Oh, no." Bonnibel shook her head. "I couldn't intrude for a second time -,"

"You're not intruding." Simon assured. "I promise."

Bonnibel took a quick glance over at Marceline, who was slouched in Simon's chair behind his desk. One of her black skinny jean clad legs was slung over the arm of the chair, and she was rested against the opposite one. The other leg was dangling down at the front of the chair and she was too busy texting to pay any attention to Bonnibel. "I guess I could stay."

Marshall grinned, turning his attention to his sister. "Yo, Marce!"

She looked up from her phone. "What?"

"Are you okay with driving me and Bonnibel to ours?" Marshall asked.

Marceline glanced over at Bonnibel for a second and sighed. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"Not really." Marshall said.

Marceline just rolled her eyes and went back to her phone.

Simon smiled at Bonnibel. "Thank you for tutoring him, by the way. I know it's a nightmare, but -,"

"I don't think it's a nightmare." Bonnibel interrupted. "He's not as bad as you guys make out."

"Told you." Marshall grinned.

Marceline spoke up, not looking up from her phone. "She's probably lying to protect your feelings."

"Bitch."

"Fucking jerk."

"_Marceline_!" Simon scolded. "What have I told you about that language?"

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Chill, Simon."

He sighed. "Don't do it again."

They were silent for a moment until Marceline spoke up again as she was standing up. "I'm going to go to English."

"Okay. I'll see you at break, Marcy." Simon smiled.

She nodded and walked over to him, giving him a hug. Bonnibel frowned. From what she'd gathered, Marceline disliked physical contact. "Yeah, see you at break." She let go, looking over to Marshall. "Later, Marsh."

He nodded back. "Bye."

Bonnibel saw Marceline's eyes flash to her for a second, but the pale girl didn't say anything and walked out of the room.

* * *

><p>Bonnibel had another run in with Ricardio at break. She was walking down the hallway heading to class early and wasn't really thinking about anything until she heard him.<p>

"Hello, Bonnibel."

She sighed and turned around. "Hi."

"You don't seem to be with any of your friends." He analysed, stepping closer to her.

She took a step back. "Uh, actually…I'm just going to meet them."

He walked forwards. "Would you like an escort?"

Every step he took, she would go backwards. That was, until she hit a locker. "Uh, I'm good."

He smiled, his body pressing against hers. "So, I was meaning to ask you something earlier but I didn't get round to it."

She gulped. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me?"

"No." Bonnibel replied. "I don't date."

The bell rang, and she saw it as her ticket to get out of there. She tried to duck away from him but he placed an arm in her way, blocking her in. "Why not?"

"Because I just don't." Bonnibel replied. "Can I -,"

"Why won't you date me? I'm a nice guy." He argued.

Bonnibel shook her head. "It's not that you're not nice, I just don't date."

"Maybe this'll change your mind." Ricardio stated, and Bonnibel screwed her eyes shut as she saw him lean in and moved her head away. She didn't want her first kiss to be like this.

She felt him being pulled off her just at the last second, and she opened her eyes to see Marceline punch him. She cringed when she heard a crack and saw blood coming from his nose.

Marceline glared at him, and not in her usual way. This one was even scarier, filled with hatred and menace. "If you fucking touch her again, you won't get off as easy as that. Actually, if you fucking touch any girl without her motherfucking permission ever again, I will fucking kill you. Got that?"

He nodded his head, scrambling backwards in an effort to get away from Marceline. Bonnibel stayed against the locker in shock. "Now, fucking apologise to her."

He gulped. "Sorry." It came out in a mumble.

Marceline glared. "Get the fuck out of here."

He didn't need to be told twice. He got up and ran. The second he was around the corner, Marceline turned to Bonnibel. "Are you okay?"

Bonnibel didn't reply, and stayed close against the lockers.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." Marceline assured, stepping closer to her.

Bonnibel gulped. "We're going to be late for class."

Marceline sighed. "Really? That's _really_ your biggest concern?"

Bonnibel frowned. "Why'd you help me? You don't like me."

"As much as that last statement is true, why wouldn't I? God, I'm not heartless." Marceline stated, rolling her eyes.

Bonnibel nodded, sinking down to a sitting position against the lockers. She looked to her hands; she was shaking. "Can you maybe get one of my friends?"

"They'll all be in class, genius."

Bonnibel rested her head against her knees and hid herself from Marceline. She willed herself not to cry. It didn't work. She was sat, silently sobbing until she felt somebody sit down beside her. "Uh…don't cry."

Bonnibel looked up to see Marceline sat next to her, looking extremely uncomfortable. "You don't have to comfort me."

"Yes, I do." Marceline replied.

"Why?"

"I just do, okay?"

With that, Bonnibel launched herself into Marceline's arms, and she didn't move when she felt the pale girl tense up. She clung onto Marceline's grey 'no smoking' shirt, and sobbed into the girl's shoulder, inhaling the comforting smell of strawberries on Marceline's tense skin. She took the opportunity to touch Marceline's hair – which was insanely soft, as Bonnibel had predicted – and she stayed in Marceline's arms until she'd cried herself dry. Then, Marceline shoved Bonnibel off her. "Don't do that again."

Bonnibel nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry…but thank you."

Marceline's crimson eyes scanned Bonnibel over for a second, before she sighed. "You're welcome. Now come on, we're like, ten minutes late to History."

Bonnibel nodded and stood up, trailing behind Marceline all the way to their class. "Seriously though, why'd you help me?"

"Do I need a fucking reason?" Marceline snapped. "I just did, okay? Isn't that enough for you?"

Bonnibel gulped. "Sorry. Thanks for comforting me and everything."

Marceline just shrugged and pushed open the door to the classroom, looking up at the teacher. "Sorry we're late."

He sighed. "Take a seat and I'll go over everything with you guys once I've finished addressing the class."

They sat down at their desk in the back, and LSP shot Bonnibel a look as she walked past. Bonnibel just smiled back and took her regular seat, unpacking all of her stuff for the lesson.

She was silent until Marceline spoke up. "I still don't like you, you know."

Bonnibel frowned when she felt saddened at that. "I know, Marceline."

* * *

><p>Bonnibel was confused when she and Marshall walked back to Marshall's house that night. "Why're we walking? I thought Marceline was going to give us a ride?"<p>

"She puked and got sent home." Marshall shrugged. "I don't know how she is. She drove herself home halfway through lunch."

Bonnibel was confused as to why she felt concern. "Do you know why it happened?"

"Nah." Marshall shrugged. "My best guess is that she faked it to go hang out with Keila."

He was wrong.

They walked into the front room to see a sick looking Marceline curled up on the couch under a blanket. She was asleep, a sight which Bonnibel found quite adorable.

"She probably won't wake up." Marshall assured Bonnibel as they sat down on the other couch.

Bonnibel nodded, pulling her books out of her backpack, before turning to Marshall. "Why doesn't she like me?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's always telling me she doesn't like me and I just wondered if you knew why." Bonnibel explained.

"Oh…she just doesn't like people." Marshall shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing personal."

Bonnibel sighed. "Anyways, what didn't you understand in class today?"

He passed her a list on a piece of paper ripped from his notebook. "There's quite a lot."

Bonnibel looked it over, looking up at him with an eyebrow raised. "Marshall, this is everything we did in class."

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah…I didn't exactly get anything."

She nodded. "Right, okay…uh…let's start with these equations."

She was in the middle of talking him through balancing different formulas, when he cut her off and looked up at her. "Marceline told me what happened today."

"What?"

"With that guy." He clarified. "She was really pissed off."

"Because I hugged her? Oh God, I didn't -," Bonnibel exclaimed.

He cut her off. "No, no! She was mad at _him_! She was going to go beat him up but this happened," He stated, gesturing over at the sick, sleeping Marceline on the other couch. "Why'd you think she'd be mad because you _hugged_ her of all things?"

Bonnibel blushed a little. "Well, she told me not to touch her but I was freaking out and I just hugged her."

Marshall shrugged. "But yeah, she had this huge ass rant about how he was a fucking douche or something and then said she was going to make it her personal mission to make sure he can never reproduce."

"Why does she care? She said she doesn't like me." Bonnibel replied.

"She hates guys like that. I think it's because of Ash." Marshall shrugged.

"Ash?"

"Her ex-boyfriend." Marshall explained. "They dated for like half a year until -,"

"Hey, guys!" Mr Petrikov walked into the room and immediately walked over to Marceline, sitting down on the edge of the couch and stroking a hand through her hair. "Hey, Marcy. How're you doing?"

She opened her eyes a little, mumbling. "I feel a bit better."

"Good. Do you think you'll be well enough to have pizza and kick Marshall's butt?"

"Hey!" Marshall exclaimed. "Not cool, Simon."

Marceline laughed a little, which was music to Bonnibel's ears. "I think I'm okay to do some butt-kicking."

"And pizza?"

"And pizza." Marceline confirmed, sitting herself up, still wrapped in her blanket. Her eyes fell on Bonnibel, who was surprised when Marceline actually spoke to her. "Are you okay?"

Simon looked between the girls and smiled to himself, before turning to Marceline. "Do you want me to make you some tea?"

"Sure."

"Okay." He walked out of the room to leave Bonnibel and Marceline to their conversation.

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling okay. Thanks for earlier."

"No problem. Prepare to get your ass kicked, princess." Marceline stated.

Bonnibel smiled. "What makes you so confident? I might win, you know."

Marshall nodded. "She beat me last week."

"A blind penguin with no limbs could beat you, Marshall." Marceline stated. "But you're good, huh?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "I don't know, I guess."

Marceline nodded, and Marshall stood up. "I'm going for a smoke. I'll be five minutes."

The second he was gone, Marceline spoke up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You're concerned about me?" Bonnibel frowned, an eyebrow raised.

Marceline threw her blanket aside and sat with her knees tucked up to her chest. "No. I'm just checking."

Bonnibel nodded, looking down at the floor. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Marceline was confused at the sad tone to Bonnibel's voice. "What?"

"You really hate me, and I just want to know why. What did I do?" Bonnibel asked, her blue eyes locking with Marceline's red ones.

Marceline stared into Bonnibel's innocent eyes for a while, before sighing. "Look, don't take it personally, princess. I don't like anyone."

"Why?"

"Because people are fucking assholes."

"Not everyone is bad. Most people are good, actually." Bonnibel argued.

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, I don't."

Bonnibel sighed, and was about to continue talking to Marceline, but Simon walked in, sitting next to the dark haired girl on the sofa, placing a mug of tea on the coffee table. "I'm ordering the pizzas in a little while, so we'll just put a movie on until we decide on the video game we're going to play. I vote Wii Sports."

"That's because it's the only thing you're not bad at, Simon." Marceline rolled her eyes.

Simon laughed, lightly shoving her. "Very funny, Marcy. I need a word with you in the kitchen, actually."

Marceline sighed, standing up and following him out of the room. "What have I done now?"

Bonnibel was left by herself and could half hear Simon and Marceline talking in the other room, but wasn't paying much attention until she heard them say her name. She frowned, and tried her best to hear what they were talking about.

"Marcy, I want you to give her a chance." Simon sighed. "Bonnibel's a really nice girl, and I can tell you don't hate her."

Bonnibel presumed Marceline was probably scowling. "No, Simon. I don't need her. I have plenty of friends."

"None your own age." Simon countered.

"I don't need any friends my own age. I'm perfectly fine." Marceline snapped. "I have Keila, Guy and Bongo. Besides, Marshall's my age."

"He's your brother."

"Am I not allowed to be friends with my brother?" Marceline frowned.

Simon sighed. "Please just give her a chance? At least be civil with her? I think she likes you."

Bonnibel frowned. She didn't like Marceline, did she? Marceline wasn't even nice. Then again, she was sweet in helping her earlier when she had no obligation to.

Marceline sighed. "I'll be civil, okay?"

"Thank you, Marcy. Sit next to her when we go back in, okay?" Simon asked.

Marceline huffed. "Fine, but if I puke on her it's your fault."

Simon laughed, and Bonnibel looked to the ground as they walked back into the room. As she'd promised, Marceline sat on the sofa next to Bonnibel, leaning forward and grabbing her tea from the table. Marshall walked back into the room as Simon was turning the TV on, and he immediately went and sat next to him and stole the remote. "I get to pick."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you be studying?"

"I have studied." Marshall replied. "Now, I get to chill."

Bonnibel shuffled about on her seat, feeling uncomfortable. She felt rather out of place, and she nearly jumped out of her seat when Marceline turned to her with a scowl on her face. "So, princess," She paused in thought for a moment, thinking of something to ask Bonnibel, "What kind of music are you into?"

"I don't really listen to much music." Bonnibel replied.

Marceline's eyes widened and she calmly leaned forward and placed her drink on the coffee table, before looking back at Bonnibel as if she'd just said the most unholy thing in the world. "You don't listen to music? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"_Marceline_! Language!" Simon scolded.

"She doesn't listen to music, Simon! This girl is fucked up!" Marceline reasoned.

"Stop with the swearing!" Simon replied.

"Seriously though!" Marceline exclaimed. "She doesn't like music! What's up with that?!"

Bonnibel frowned. "What's wrong with not liking music?"

"Everything!" Marceline exclaimed. "Music is like, the best thing on the planet."

"I like acoustic things." Bonnibel replied. "But that's about it."

"Marshall, we need to educate this girl."

Marshall was too interested in his show to pay much attention to Marceline. "Mhm, you do that."

Marceline sighed and leant back in her seat. "You're weird, princess."

"Stop calling me princess." Bonnibel mumbled.

"Hm, okay." Marceline put her hand to her chin and looked up in thought. "How about fuckhead?"

"Marceline -," Simon began.

"Yeah, yeah," She cut him off. "No swearing, got it."

"How about you just call me Bonnibel?" Bonnibel suggested, keeping her distance from the pale girl. She didn't want Marceline punching her for her lack of interest in music.

Marceline let out a sigh and a pained expression crossed her face. "How very unoriginal. I guess I _could_."

"Thank you." Bonnibel smiled, as Simon stood up.

"I'm going to order the pizzas. What do you guys want?"

"Same as usual." Marshall replied, not taking his eyes from the TV screen.

"Pepperoni." Marceline stated, grabbing her phone from the coffee table as it vibrated against the hard surface.

Bonnibel smiled. "Just a plain cheese for me, thank you."

He nodded and walked off into the kitchen. Bonnibel couldn't help but look over Marceline's shoulder at her texts. She was texting her friend that she went to see last week, Keila.

Keila: Sup, wanna come over?

Marceline: yes but I probably won't be able to

Marceline: nerd is here again

Keila: Oh I see

Marceline: yeah

Marceline: simon's making me be nice to her so we'll become bffs and ride off into the sunset on a magical flying pony together

Keila: I can tell by the sarcasm that you don't see a potential friendship there then

Marceline: haha, nope

Marceline: she doesn't even like music, Keila

Keila: You're kidding

Marceline: nope, she actually said that

Keila: Maybe you could see if you have anything in common

Keila: It would be cool if you made another friend

Marceline: I just don't see us being friends

Marceline: she's like all pink and stuff and she's a fucking nerd

Keila: Opposites attract?

Marceline: hahahaha no

Keila: I have to go, I'm gonna go and bug Guy for a bit

Marceline: later dude

Keila: Play nice with the nerd

Marceline: yeah yeah whatever

Bonnibel tried not to be disheartened and looked away when she saw Marceline lock her phone. She awkwardly played with her fingers for a while until the pale girl next to her finally spoke up.

"Okay, dork." Marceline began, "I'm going to educate you on good music."

Bonnibel looked up to see Marceline untangling her earphones. "You really don't have to -,"

"Apparently, I do." Marceline interrupted. "You don't listen to music? What's up with that?"

"I just don't. There's not really any specific artists I like other than Ed Sheeran." Bonnibel shrugged.

Marceline thought to herself for a second. "Yeah, he's pretty cool, but you still need educating."

Bonnibel watched as Marceline plugged her earphones in and passed her phone to Bonnibel where it was unlocked on the 'genres' page. "Do you want me to pick any genre?"

"Yeah." Marceline nodded.

Bonnibel scrolled through all the genres on Marceline's phone, and 90% of them were all some form of rock music. Bonnibel ended up settling for the 'acoustic' one. She passed the phone back to Marceline who rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of 'typical'. She shuffled a little closer to Bonnibel and passed her an earphone. "Put this in."

Bonnibel complied. "Are you going to show me some artists?"

"Yeah." Marceline nodded. "Okay. First band is one that's actually split up now but they're still pretty rad. A Rocket To The Moon. Most of their songs are acoustic and chill so this is probably your kind of thing."

Marceline played her one of their songs, which Bonnibel did find rather calming. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore where she was and who she was with, and she just relaxed. When she reopened her eyes, she saw Marceline staring at her. Bonnibel smiled a little. "I liked it."

"I could tell, nerd."

"I'm not a nerd."

"Yeah, and I'm not called Marceline." Marceline sarcastically responded. "Now pick another genre."

They did this several more times until they got to one of Marceline's favourite bands, when Marceline took the earphone Bonnibel was using and sat and quietly sung along to the band's music. Bonnibel was honestly shocked by how beautiful Marceline's singing voice was. It was nothing like the girl's speaking voice which was husky; Marceline's singing voice was as soft as silk. Bonnibel found herself entranced by Marceline's singing, and didn't even realise the girl had stopped until Marceline snapped at her. "What the fuck are you looking at?"

Bonnibel gulped. "Uh…you're a really good singer."

Marceline's eyes softened. "Thanks."

Bonnibel smiled at the intimidating girl. "You're welcome."

Marceline showed the smallest ghost of a smile, before reaching over to the other couch and grabbing her blanket, wrapping herself up in it and turning back to Bonnibel. "So…what do you like to do for fun?"

"Science experiments."

Marceline turned her nose up at this, and Bonnibel frowned. "You do _science_ in your free time?"

"Yes," Bonnibel confirmed, "It's fascinating."

"Boring." Marceline countered. "You should get out more."

"I don't like socialising much." Bonnibel replied. "I'm introverted."

"Same here, but it doesn't mean I don't like seeing my friends." Marceline put her earphones back in and turned away, effectively ending their conversations.

"You're impossible." Bonnibel mumbled to herself.

Marshall laughed, finally looking up from the TV. "She's cool once you get to know her."

"Why is she so hostile to everyone?" Bonnibel asked.

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that." Marshall replied. "But she was never like this as a kid. She was always super happy, and even after we started living with Simon she was nice to everyone that would come over and she was always happy, but then something happened and now she's like this."

Bonnibel looked over at Marceline who was in her own little music induced daydream. "She's difficult."

"Yeah, she can be." Marshall nodded. "But she's the best friend you'll ever have."

Bonnibel frowned. "How so?"

"Well, she'll beat up anyone that hurts you, she's scarily good at comforting people, and she's one of the smartest people I've ever met." Marshall stated. "She may be frustrating at times, but it's worth it. If you want to be friends with her, just try."

"I don't know if I do. She kind of scares me a little." Bonnibel replied. "I feel like she'd hurt me or something."

Marshall laughed a little. "Nah, she wouldn't hurt a friend."

Bonnibel looked over to Marceline who was still listening to her music and staring at nothing in particular, tapping her bare foot against the carpet. "She's really into her music."

"We both are." Marshall stated. "It's weird that you don't listen to music."

Bonnibel shrugged. "It's just never something I took an interest in."

"Yet you took an interest in science?" Marshall frowned. Bonnibel shot him a half-hearted glare, and he laughed. "Hey, I'm not making fun of you or anything, it's just a little…" He paused to try to think of the right word.

Luckily, Marceline could help. "Fucking weird?"

Bonnibel turned to the girl who was pulling out one of her earphones. Marshall nodded to her. "Yeah, basically."

Bonnibel shrugged. "I like it. Recently, I conducted an experiment on -,"

"Okay, all I can hear when this girl talks is nerd junk." Marceline replied, rolling her eyes. "It's fucking annoying."

Bonnibel frowned. "I just like different things."

"Whatever, nerd."

"Punk." Bonnibel shot back.

"I take that as a compliment."

"Drug addict." Bonnibel countered. She felt bad when she saw Marceline tense up, and she felt a wave of terror hit her when the girl looked at her in a rage.

"_What_ did you just call me?"

"Nothing." Bonnibel gulped, cringing at the little crack in her voice. She saw Marceline's hands ball into fists, and she scrambled as far away from the girl as she could, spewing out apology after apology. "I'm sorry, I'm _really_ sorry! Please don't hurt me."

"You'd better fucking hope I don't, _princess_."

Marshall jumped in between the two girls, grabbing hold of his sister's wrists. "Don't do anything stupid, Marce."

"I wouldn't be doing anything stupid. I'd just be killing princess over here."

"I think that classes as stupid." Marshall calmly stated. "Promise me you won't hurt her."

Marceline glared at him for a minute, and Bonnibel saw the pale girl visibly relax. "Why shouldn't I?"

"She apologised." Marshall pointed out.

Bonnibel nodded. "I really am sorry -,"

"Can it, princess." Marceline snapped, shooting her a hard glare.

Marshall slowly released her arms. "You won't hurt her?"

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Marceline confirmed.

Marshall nodded and slowly made his way back over to his couch, not taking his eyes off of the two girls in case Marceline decided to jump Bonnibel.

Bonnibel stayed as far away from the intimidating girl as she could. She was terrified. Marceline noticed. "Look, I promised I wouldn't hurt you, so you don't have to sit on the edge of the couch like that. Seriously, you look like you're going to fall off it."

Bonnibel frowned. "I don't trust you."

"Likewise, _princess_."

"Don't call me princess."

"Don't call me a drug addict." Marceline countered.

"I apologised." Bonnibel mumbled. "And I _am_ sorry."

"I know." Marceline muttered. "Which is why I won't punch you."

Bonnibel shuffled back on the couch and made herself comfortable, but still stayed at a respectable distance from Marceline. She busied herself with adjusting her hoodie which had ridden up slightly, and looked anywhere but the pale girl who was watching TV. She was relieved when Simon walked into the room with pizzas, passing them around to everyone. He slid a DVD into the player and sat down on the couch next to Marshall.

"What're we watching?" Marshall asked through a mouthful of pizza.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Simon scolded. "We're watching Peter Pan."

Bonnibel saw Marceline smile, a sight that made her stomach feel weird. Marceline really _was _beautiful, especially when she did that.

Marshall turned to Bonnibel and smiled. "So, you've been getting a lot of male attention since you started at our school. Been on any dates yet?"

Bonnibel blushed. "No. I don't date."

"Good move." Marceline commented. "Guys are dicks."

Simon didn't even bother scolding her for her choice of word. "Just because you had a bad experience doesn't mean you shouldn't date."

Marceline shrugged. "Everyone's a dick. I can't stand people. They suck."

Simon chuckled. "Your brother and I are people. Your friends are people."

"_Cool_ people, Simon." Marceline specified. "You guys are the rare cool people."

Marshall grinned. "Fuck yeah, I'm cool."

"You two need to stop with your swearing." Simon stated. "We have a guest."

Marceline shrugged. "Half of the time I don't realise I'm doing it. I only really say fuck, anyways."

"That's the worst one!" Simon exclaimed.

"No, it's not." Marceline shrugged. "The worst one is the one _I _won't even say."

Marshall laughed. "I'll say it if you want."

"No, don't." Simon stated. "That's enough swearing for one night."

Marshall shrugged and turned to Bonnibel. "So you really don't date?"

"Really." Bonnibel confirmed. "I just don't see the point. I'm not really attracted to anyone right now."

"I bet you've daydreamed over a guy before." Marshall teased.

Bonnibel nervously chuckled. "No, I haven't. I've never liked a guy before."

"You've _never_ liked a guy before?" Marshall frowned. "You've never had a crush? Come _on_! Even _Marceline_ has had a crush on someone."

"Why's that so surprising?" Marceline asked, an eyebrow raised and a small smirk on her face. "I have emotions."

"You don't act like it."

"And _crush_? What are you, twelve?" Marceline scoffed.

Marshall rolled his eyes and turned back to Bonnibel. "You have to have liked someone a little."

Bonnibel shook her head. She knew she'd had one major crush in her life, but she wasn't going to talk to Marshall about that, especially with Marceline in the room. "Nope, I've never had romantic feelings for anyone before."

"Seriously? That's weird." Marshall exclaimed. "Marce, isn't that weird?"

"Eh, not really."

"You've liked someone before." Marshall pointed out.

Marceline frowned. "So? I didn't even like him that much, to be honest."

"Yeah, I know, but you did like him a little."

Marceline thought for a minute. "I liked the _idea_ of him."

Marshall frowned. "What do you mean?"

Marceline's gaze flicked to Bonnibel and she shook her head. "I'm not explaining that around princess over here."

"I told you to stop calling me that." Bonnibel replied. "And you can say whatever you want. I'm not going to go around school announcing that the terrifying Marceline Abadeer has feelings."

Marceline stared at her for a second, before saying something Bonnibel never thought she'd hear. "I like your vibe, dude."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks."

Marshall looked at Marceline expectantly. "Well? Will you explain?"

"Basically, I liked the idea of being in a relationship and all that junk. I just didn't really like him." Marceline elaborated. "I mean, he was basically king of the douchebags."

Marshall laughed. "Word."

Bonnibel shuffled a little closer to Marceline. "Marceline?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever actually liked a person and not just the idea of them?" Bonnibel asked.

Marceline thought for a second. "Uh…nope. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not exactly a people person."

Bonnibel giggled a little. "I figured."

Simon finally inputted into the conversation, tearing his eyes away from the Disney movie on the TV. "You _were_ a people person."

"I was like, five." Marceline argued. "Things change, Simon."

"You were fourteen."

"Same thing."

Simon chuckled. "Five and fourteen? Of course, Marcy."

"Shut up, Simon." Bonnibel saw the grin on Marceline's face, and she found herself smiling at how happy Marceline seemed to be.

Once they'd finished their pizza – and Simon had finished his movie – Marceline grabbed the Guitar Hero disk and put it in the Wii. Marshall sighed. "I give up already; you'll definitely win, unless Bonnibel's a secret Guitar Hero master."

Bonnibel laughed, shaking her head. "I've never played before."

"Don't play with Marceline; she'll make you play on expert and crush you." Marshall warned.

Marceline cackled. "He's not lying."

"I think I'll play against Simon and let you two battle it out." Bonnibel said.

It was hilarious watching Marshall and Marceline play video games. They were both very competitive and even started hitting each other in the middle of the game to distract one another. They were shouting so loud that Bonnibel couldn't hear the music on the TV. Simon tried to intervene and stop the two from swearing as excessively as they were, and ended up drowned out by Marceline repeatedly shouting the word fuck.

Bonnibel sat on the couch giggling for the most part while the twins were sat on the floor in front of the TV yelling at each other. Simon tried apologising for their behaviour, and Bonnibel just laughed. "This is too funny!"

Simon finally stopped the game when Marceline kicked Marshall in the head when he started to beat her. He walked right over to the TV and switched it off in the middle of the song, to Marshall's disappointment. "Simon! I was winning!"

"We all know that wouldn't last long, Marshall."

Marceline cackled. "Yeah, you suck!"

"Marcy, be nice to your brother." Simon commanded.

"No, he's a jerk."

"How old are you two, five?"

"You didn't even know us when we were five." Marshall pointed out.

Bonnibel let out a little giggle, and Marceline sat back down on the sofa next to her. "What's so funny, princess?"

"You guys," Bonnibel chuckled, "And what did I say about the princess thing?"

"Sorry, _Your Majesty_." Marceline teased.

Bonnibel grumbled a little. "You're impossible."

"Chill, princess."

"_Stop_ calling me that." Bonnibel ordered.

"Okay, fuckhead."

"_Marceline_!" Bonnibel exclaimed.

"What do you desire, your highness?"

"Shut up, Marceline." Bonnibel grumbled, looking up.

Marceline had a smirk on her face. "Calm down, princess."

Bonnibel glared at her. "I told you, stop."

Marceline cackled. "Make me, _princess_."

Simon rolled his eyes. "That's enough tormenting for tonight, Marcy."

Bonnibel got an idea. "Yeah, _Marcy_."

"Fuck you, princess." Marceline scowled. "I'm going to take a nap, I feel a little sick again."

Simon frowned. "You need to take Bonnibel home."

"Since when?" Marceline questioned. "Your car's fine."

"I'll give you ten bucks." Simon wagered.

Marceline smiled a little. "Deal. I'm still taking a nap, though."

She walked off before Simon could argue. He sighed to himself, before turning to Bonnibel. "Just go up and get her when you want to leave."

"Are you sure she won't kill me if I wake her up?"

Simon laughed. "I'm sure."

Bonnibel waited at least a half hour and played some Mario Kart with Simon and Marshall before announcing she'd like to head home to get her homework done. Simon nodded. "To get to Marcy's room, just go up the stairs and turn left, and it's the first door you'll see."

Bonnibel nodded, following Simon's directions and walking up the stairs, knocking on the door she presumed was Marceline's. She merely got a grunt in response, so she walked in to see Marceline still laying on her bed, half in the covers, and half out of them in the pyjamas she'd been wearing all night; grey sweatpants and a lighter grey tank top. The girl was half awake and clutching the stuffed toy she'd seen in the pictures downstairs that was some sort of pink monkey that looked pretty well used. Bonnibel smiled to herself and gently shook Marceline in an attempt to wake the girl.

"Uh…wake up, Marceline."

"Fuck off, princess."

She saw Marceline subtly shove the toy under her blankets and out of sight. "Marceline, Simon said that -,"

"Yeah, yeah. I know what Simon said." Marceline snapped. "Give me a break."

Bonnibel frowned. "Do you want me to wait downstairs for you to get dressed?"

"I'll just drive you as I am. I don't care." Marceline shrugged.

Bonnibel nodded, looking around the room as Marceline sat up. Marceline's bedroom was surprisingly tidy; there was nothing on the black carpet aside from two stray socks, her guitars were neatly lined up on a guitar rack, and her dresser wasn't at all cluttered. It was the opposite of what Bonnibel was expecting, minus the posters of various bands covering every inch of the grey walls.

Bonnibel watched as Marceline stood up and grabbed a maroon hoodie from the back of the desk hair positioned by her dresser, pulling it on. Bonnibel attempted a smile. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be, princess."

Bonnibel sighed. Clearly, Marceline wasn't planning on calling her by anything other than princess for a while.

The drive home was less awkward than it was last week, but the air was still thick between the two girls. Marceline didn't bother talking to Bonnibel, and instead blocked any attempts at conversation by putting on her rock music so loud she couldn't hear Bonnibel over it.

As they pulled up outside Bonnibel's house, Marceline stopped the girl before she could leave. "Hey, princess."

Bonnibel frowned. "What?"

"I still don't like you." Marceline stated. "Nothing that happened tonight makes us friends. Simon was making me be nice to you."

Bonnibel already knew Simon was making the girl be civil, but she'd at least hoped Marceline had stopped hating her. That didn't stop her from being confused at the sinking feeling in her stomach. "Oh."

Marceline frowned. "So don't go thinking that we're friends or anything, because we're not."

Bonnibel nodded. "Understood."

"Now get the fuck out of my car."

Bonnibel obliged, and walked up to her porch feeling oddly weighed down. She frowned. She didn't like Marceline, right? She didn't want to be Marceline's friend. Marceline was nothing but a lazy punk that would just drag Bonnibel down. Bonnibel _refused_ to associate herself with people like that.

She didn't want to be Marceline's friend at all.

She hated the fact that she knew she was lying to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wednesday 22****nd**** January 2014.**

To say Bonnibel was angry would be an understatement. The usually perky girl was incredibly annoyed by her apparent new friend Ricardio.

He hadn't left her alone since Marceline hit him. He'd realised that Marceline was never around to protect Bonnibel and that the two of them weren't actually friends, so he ignored the pale girl's warning and continued to ask Bonnibel out.

He followed her around enough to know at least half of her schedule, so usually, when she walked out of certain classes, he was there. Luckily, most of the time she was with one of her friends, who told him to screw off when Bonnibel was too polite to. He was never intimidated by them.

He honestly gave Bonnibel the creeps.

Bonnibel's friends weren't too pleased with her, either. That was because she'd invited Marshall to spend break with them. She'd decided to get closer to him, since they would be seeing a lot of one another with the tutoring. She found herself giggling as the carefree looks on her friends' faces were replaced by looks of shock as she walked towards them with Marshall.

She smiled at them. "Hi, guys. This is Marshall. I invited him to spend break with us."

Lady shot him a weak smile. "Hi."

Bonnibel caught a pink blush rise on Gumball's cheeks, which grew even redder when he noticed her looking at him. She shot a knowing smile his way. Gumball cleared his throat and looked up at Marshall. "Nice to meet you."

Marshall just nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Fionna, smirking. "Hey, Fionna."

Bonnibel saw Gumball look dejectedly at his feet and went to sit next to him as Marshall squeezed himself between Fionna and Cake, wrapping an arm around Fionna. Cake glared at him. "Hell no, boy."

Bonnibel smiled at Gumball. "You like him, don't you?"

He nodded, sighing. "Yeah. I don't know why. He's the biggest douche in the school."

"He's not that bad." Bonnibel laughed.

"How did you even make friends with him and Marceline? Don't they hate everyone?" Gumball whispered. "I've been trying to make friends with Marshall for years."

Bonnibel chuckled. "It's just Marceline that hates everyone, and we're not friends. I only talked to Marshall because he kept bugging me."

"That's how he flirts." Gumball responded, nodding towards Marshall who was busy messing up Fionna's hair.

Bonnibel put an arm around Gumball. "Do you know if he likes guys?"

Gumball sighed. "I doubt it."

"I'll find out for you."

"What're you going to do, ask him? That won't be weird at all." Gumball sarcastically replied.

Bubblegum shrugged. "Maybe I'll ask Marceline."

Gumball's eyes widened. "Please don't."

"I have History with her 4th period. Maybe I'll ask her then." Bonnibel shrugged.

"If you ask her I will never talk to you again." Gumball stated.

Bonnibel laughed. "She's not that bad. Besides, she'd probably know."

"Please don't get Marceline involved in this." Gumball begged.

"I wouldn't tell her you wanted to know. I'd just ask." Bonnibel said. "Wouldn't you like to know if he likes guys?"

"Well yeah, but -,"

"But nothing." Bonnibel stated. "I'll ask Marceline."

Gumball sighed. "Please be subtle about it."

Bonnibel nodded. "Of course."

She wasn't subtle about it at all. She walked into History and sat down next to Marceline, tapping the girl on the shoulder. She gulped a little when Marceline jumped back on her seat, looking up at Bonnibel with a glare. "Didn't I tell you not to touch me?"

"Sorry. I just -,"

"You were just ignoring what I told you and touching me without my permission." Marceline interrupted, staring Bonnibel down.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to ask you a question." Bonnibel explained. "It's about Marshall."

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Because I was told not to." Bonnibel stated.

Marceline frowned, flicking a stray strand of her midnight black hair from her face. "Okay, what?"

"I'm asking for a friend." Bonnibel said. "He told me not to ask Marshall."

Marceline leant back on her chair, resting her arm against the back of it. "Well, shoot."

"Does Marshall like guys?" Bonnibel asked.

"Marshall? He'll fuck anything with a pulse."

"Marceline! That's very distasteful." Bonnibel exclaimed.

"I'm just telling it how it is, princess." Marceline shrugged.

"Stop calling me princess, _Marcy._"

"Well played, nerd." Bonnibel was sure she saw a ghost of a smile on Marceline's face.

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks."

"Why'd your friend want to know if Marshall likes guys, anyway?" Marceline asked.

"I'm not supposed to say." Bonnibel stated.

Marceline rolled her eyes. "You have to tell me, you've got me involved, nerd."

"I really shouldn't -,"

"Think about it," Marceline interrupted. "Who am I going to tell?"

"Uh, Marshall?" Bonnibel stated as if it was obvious.

"We don't talk about junk like secrets or whatever. Mostly we just insult each other." Marceline explained. "I don't talk to anyone else here, and it's not like I'm going to tell any of my other friends."

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm interested."

"My friend likes him." Bonnibel said.

"The gay one?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Why doesn't he just tell my brother?" Marceline frowned. "It couldn't hurt."

"He's too scared." Bonnibel replied.

"Do you want me to tell him?"

"No!" Bonnibel exclaimed. "I wasn't even supposed to tell _you_. Gumball is going to kill me."

Marceline laughed. "Gumball? Are your friends part of a fucking cartoon or something?"

Bonnibel sighed. "You shouldn't swear, you know. And don't make fun of my friends! Aren't _your_ friends all like thirty and unemployed?"

"They graduated last year, princess. They're all nineteen." Marceline snapped. "Not to mention, they all have jobs."

"Well -,"

Marceline cut her off. "You know, you're really judgemental. You haven't even met my friends and yet you seem to think they're drug addicts or something? You even accused _me _of being a drug addict, when you don't even know me. Maybe you should pull your head out of your own ass and _not_ judge people on what they look like."

"Sorry." Bonnibel mumbled. "You made fun of my friends so I made fun of yours."

"Whatever." Marceline snapped.

They were sat in silence until Bonnibel finally snapped. "I don't get you. One minute you're being at least a little bit nice to me, and the next you're insulting me. Will you just make up your mind? Being nice wouldn't kill you."

"Nobody gets me, princess."

"Will you please just stick to being at least a little nice to me?" Bonnibel asked.

"Will you pull your head out of your own ass and stop being such a judgemental, self-centred bitch?" Marceline countered.

Bonnibel let out a sigh. She didn't think she was full of herself at all. "Fine."

"Alright then."

"What happened to you 'liking my vibe' anyways?" Bonnibel asked.

"Yeah, your _vibe_. Not you." Marceline stated. "I like how you don't care about gossip and junk."

"I don't understand your slang." Bonnibel stated.

"That's because you're a fucking dork."

"Stop swearing."

"Oh, sorry princess! Have I offended thee with my incessant cursing? What else do you request from me while we're on the topic, your highness?" Marceline responded in the most sarcastic tone the girl could muster.

"Shut up." Bonnibel muttered, her cheeks turning a light pink. "Truce?"

Marceline chuckled, and Bonnibel was surprised by how genuine her laugh was. "Alright, fine."

Bonnibel smiled. "Good."

Marceline exhaled, thumbs playing with her grey 'no smoking' shirt. "That guy isn't still bugging you, is he?"

Bonnibel frowned. "Why do you care?"

"Because," Marceline shrugged, "I hate guys like that. Any excuse to punch them is good enough for me."

Bonnibel couldn't stop the little laugh that Marceline's comment elicited. "Well, he is."

"Okay," Marceline nodded. "If you need me, I'm usually in either Simon's classroom or the music room."

Bonnibel smiled. "Okay. Thanks, Marceline."

"No problem, Bonnibel."

Bonnibel couldn't contain her smile. Marceline hadn't called her princess. For some reason unknown to Bonnibel, that meant a lot.

* * *

><p>At lunch, Bonnibel utilised her new defence against Ricardio. He was waiting outside History for her, and Bonnibel walked straight back in the classroom the second she saw him and called for Marceline, who was untangling her earphones.<p>

"What?"

"Ricardio."

She saw Marceline grind her teeth, and she saw the girl who was at least 3 inches taller than her tense up. "I'm going to kill that kid."

As Bonnibel walked back out of the classroom, Ricardio smiled at her. She tried not to laugh when his face paled at the anger on Marceline's face. "You just don't listen, do you?"

Ricardio tried to be brave. "You're not even friends with her."

Marceline's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, really?"

Ricardio held up a glare. "Yeah."

Bonnibel froze when Marceline slung an arm around her shoulder. "You're right. We're _best_ friends, aren't we, Bonnie?"

Bonnibel tried to relax in Marceline's tense grip and nodded. "Yeah."

Marceline shot Ricardio a fake smile. "Touch her, and die."

Bonnibel was surprised that was all it took for him to leave, and the next think she knew, Marceline was walking her down the hallway with an arm still slung around her shoulder. As they turned the corner, Bonnibel saw Lady searching in her locker and smiled. "Hey, Lady!"

Lady turned around before Marceline pulled her arm from around Bonnibel and stepped away from her. Bonnibel laughed as Lady's blue eyes widened. "Hi, Bubblegum. You've made more new friends, huh?"

Bonnibel decided to tease Marceline. "Oh yeah. We're _best_ friends, aren't we Marceline?"

"Oh, shut up. You know I just said that to save you from that douchebag." Marceline rolled her eyes, but Bonnibel swore she saw the girl's pale cheeks flush a light pink.

"But we're best friends." Bonnibel objected, a smirk similar to Marceline's on her face.

"You want me to call off the truce?"

"Fine, you win." Bonnibel grumbled. "Grumpy butt."

"_Grumpy butt_? Wow, I'm so offended." Marceline sarcastically shot back.

"Punk."

"Compliment." Marceline reminded her.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

Marceline winked, setting off down the hall. "That's the point, nerd. Splitsville, dorks."

"Bye, Marceline."

Lady gripped onto Bonnibel's arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. "What the hell was _that_?"

"I don't know." Bonnibel chuckled. "She's being civil with me."

"Marceline isn't civil with anyone."

"She is now."

"But -,"

"Can we just drop it? I'm positive there are more interesting things to talk about." Bonnibel stated.

Lady sighed. "It's just weird. Marceline never lets anyone talk to her."

"Didn't I just ask you to drop it?"

"Fine." Lady muttered, a disheartened expression on her face.

When Bonnibel and Lady arrived at their usual spot, they were surprised to see that Marshall had shown up again. They weren't surprised to see he was bugging Fionna and stealing her food when she wasn't looking.

Bonnibel made her way over to Gumball and sat down. "I asked Marceline."

"What'd she say?"

"She said he'll…have intercourse…with anything with a pulse." Bonnibel said.

"You didn't tell her why you wanted to know, did you?"

"Uh…no."

"You did." Gumball sighed, slapping a hand to his face. "She'll tell him!"

"She said she wouldn't. I made sure." Bonnibel assured.

"And you trust her?"

"Not particularly, no, but -,"

"She's going to tell him and everything will be ruined." Gumball interrupted. "Oh, God."

"She won't. She did say that she wouldn't tell anyone." Bonnibel promised. "And I believe her. Think about it; who is she going to tell?"

"Uh, Marshall?"

"She told me that all they do is insult each other. I don't see how this would come up there." Bonnibel stated. "I think you should ask him out."

Gumball sighed and shook his head. "No. He likes Fionna. He doesn't care about me."

Bonnibel thought for a minute, before turning to Marshall who was playing with Fionna's hair, much to the blonde's annoyance. "Hey, Marshall!"

Gumball's eyes widened and he grabbed Bonnibel's arm. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Trust me." Bonnibel whispered to him.

Marshall grinned. "What's up, Bonnibel?"

"Would you want to hang out with me and Gumball this weekend?" Bonnibel asked.

"Sure, dude. What day?" He asked.

"Sunday." Bonnibel smiled.

"Cool. Text me your address and I'll come over." Marshall stated, before turning back to Fionna who glared at him.

Bonnibel smiled at Gumball. "There. I'll say that something came up and then you two will be alone."

"You're a genius." He grinned, throwing his arms around her in a hug.

* * *

><p>Bonnibel was late to class. This was a first for her. She'd gone to the bathroom, thinking she had enough time, and now she was running three minutes late, and counting. She was sprinting to class, when she ran into someone.<p>

Literally.

She felt their body tense up, and she was slammed against the cold grey lockers. She was terrified, but looked up at her assailant. Marceline.

"Hi, Marceline."

She felt the other girl's grip loosen and saw Marceline's red eyes soften. "Bonnibel."

"I'm sorry for running into you." Bonnibel tried her best to stay calm. "I'm just going to be late for class and I've been told that the teacher locks you out if you're late."

Marceline let go of Bonnibel's purple jacket. "You'd better run, then."

Bonnibel shot a grateful smile to Marceline as she ran down the hall, making it to her English class just in time, taking her seat next to Lady. "You nearly got locked out! What took you?"

"I lost track of time and I ran into Marceline on the way here – literally."

Lady's eyes widened. "And she didn't kill you?"

Bonnibel smiled a little. "She looked like she was going to, but I apologised and she let me go."

Lady was shocked. "That's not like her. One time Finn literally brushed past her in the hall and she shoved him over."

Bonnibel frowned, and the rest of the lesson, she couldn't stop thinking about Marceline and how complicated she could be.


	8. Chapter 8

**look at that, a chapter centered around marceline**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Friday 24<strong>**th**** January 2014.**

When Marceline woke up, she shuffled further under her covers and tried to go back to sleep when she realised it was a Friday. She _hated_ any day she was required to go to school. She envied Guy, Keila and Bongo and how they'd graduated. She still had a year and half left.

She clung onto Hambo tighter, and tried to get comfortable. Simon wouldn't care if she missed a day of school, right? Besides, she could always just say that Marshall didn't wake her up or something.

She sighed and sat up, her duvet under her chin. She knew Simon would be disappointed in her if she started skipping school again. Swinging her pale legs over the side of her bed, she shivered at how cold her room was, but dragged herself out of bed and ran a hand through her hair which had become a tangled mess overnight. She grabbed her phone from where it was left to charge on her bedside table, checking to see if she had any notifications, which she usually didn't unless Keila got drunk and decided 3am was a good time to annoy her. She was surprised when there was two missed calls, one text and a Facebook notification. She frowned at the last one; nobody she was friends with bothered with Facebook, so she had no idea who that would be. Both missed calls and the text were from Keila, and Marceline couldn't help but laugh when she read it.

Keila: Luv u marmalade

She chuckled. That was definitely a drunken text. She replied to it and hoped that even in her drunken state, Keila had managed to put her phone on silent.

Marceline: you fucking dork

Marceline: love you too though, get some aspirin for the headache you'll definitely have

She checked her Facebook to see that princess had sent her a friend request. She frowned. Didn't she tell the kid not to bug her? She really didn't know how she felt about Bonnibel. She was surprisingly nice to her, and she didn't know if she liked that or not. She had to admit, kids in her grade actually being nice to her wasn't something she was used to. Most people were afraid of her, not that she cared. She didn't want to get close to anyone else; it made it easier for them to hurt her.

She sighed in defeat, accepting the friend request, putting her phone down on her bed, before looking down at Hambo who was still in her arms. "At least she's not _totally_ lame, right, bud?"

She smiled down at the stuffed toy before gently placing him on her pillow and standing up, knocking her warm duvet from her lap. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching out her arms and cracking her knuckles. She looked over to her bass in temptation, sighing to herself when she noticed the time. She'd only just have time to get ready and have breakfast before she'd have to set off for school.

She walked over to her bedroom window and looked over the street which was deserted. She smiled; Simon's car was still here. She walked out of the room and downstairs to see him putting things into a bag for his classes, while Schwabl watched from his basket. "Hey, Simon."

"Morning, Marcy. Did you sleep okay?" He shot her a gentle smile that reminded her of when she first met him as a scared seven year old.

She grinned. "Always do when I have Hambo around."

"Good. Have you talked to Bonnibel this week?" Simon asked.

"Why do you want me to make friends with her?" Marceline questioned.

"She's a good kid, and it'd be good for you to make more friends. Besides, she doesn't seem fooled by the whole tough façade you put on." Simon shrugged.

Marceline scoffed, a small smile on her lips. "What tough façade? I'm naturally macho, Simon."

He laughed. "You sleep with a teddy bear, Marcy."

"Shut up, Simon."

"Talk to Bonnibel, okay?"

"Will you pay me?"

"No! I'm not going to pay you to make friends, Marcy." Simon laughed.

She sighed. "Meanie."

He rolled his eyes. "How old are you, seven? I remember meanie was your go-to insult then."

"You were the one who told me not to swear and it's the first thing that came to mind, okay?"

He smiled. "I'm going to set off to school. I'll see you guys when you get there."

Marceline nodded. "Yeah. See you in a bit."

He hugged her when he stood, and Marceline relaxed into the comforting hold. "Don't forget to wake your brother up."

"I won't." She let go of him, watching as he walked out of the living room. She heard his car start outside, and she let out a sigh and traipsed into the kitchen, pouring herself a bowl of Lucky Charms. She ate them as quickly as she could, trying not to think about school, before placing the bowl in the sink and heading upstairs, pushing open the door to Marshall's room. She flicked the light on, and looked around his messy room, turning her nose up in disgust. "Geez, dude. Tidy up in here."

"What are you, my Mom?" Marshall groaned from his spot on the bed, his left eye open a crack.

"Might as well be." Marceline shrugged. "You don't do anything for yourself. Get up."

She walked into her own room at that, pulling her closet open and grabbing a pair of black skinny jeans and a t-shirt advertising one of her favourite bands. She quickly changed from her pyjamas into her clothes and began working on the mess that was her hair when her phone started ringing. She picked it up from her bed, looking at the caller ID. Keila. She answered. "Sup, Keila?"

"I have a headache." The other girl complained. "Help me, Marmalade."

"Will you _ever_ stop calling me that?" Marceline questioned.

"No. It has been your nickname since we met, there's no going back now." Keila replied. "Seriously though, come over. I need you to help me get over this hangover."

"Can't. Unlike _some_ lucky people in our band, I have to go to school." Marceline shot back.

"Just say you overslept. Simon won't know."

"Yeah, he will. He was here this morning when I got up. I'll come over later, okay?" Marceline stated.

Keila groaned. "Ugh, fine. Don't invite the guys, though. Just us."

"Sure." Marceline stated.

"Have fun at school." Keila tried to sound enthusiastic.

"Likely." Marceline scoffed. "I hate school, you know that. It sucks now that you guys graduated."

"It sucked before." Keila reminded her.

"True. It sucks harder. They won't even let me wear my nose ring anymore." Marceline corrected herself. "Feel better later, man."

"Yeah, yeah." Keila sighed. "I'm never getting drunk again."

"You said that a week ago."

"Shut up." Keila laughed. "God, my head hurts."

"Get some aspirin and water and you'll be fine." Marceline replied.

"Thanks." Keila said. "I'll see you when you finish school?"

"Yeah." Marceline replied. "I'm going to finish getting ready. Bye."

"Bye." Keila mumbled. "Love you, Marmalade."

"Love you too, Keila."

Marceline hung up and put her phone down on her bedside table. She smiled a little. Her best friend always managed to make her do that. She went back to brushing her hair until she had finally brushed out all of the tangles, walking downstairs and putting the right books in her backpack and pulling on a pair of Vans. Then, she walked into the living room and flopped herself down on the couch, flicking on the TV and searching through the channels – nothing good was on on a morning – and waited for Marshall to come downstairs.

For some reason, princess came to mind. Why? Marceline had no idea. She just didn't understand why Simon wanted them to be friends so much. She had plenty of friends already, just none at school, and she was fine with that. She had her music to keep her company. Although, there was no denying that Bonnibel wasn't actually _that_ bad. Marceline could tolerate the girl's presence for more than one minute without wanting to punch her, so she figured maybe talking to her wouldn't be so bad.

Marshall burst into the living room when she was watching a very stupid infomercial on Snuggies. "You ready?"

Marceline nodded, switching off the TV. "Yeah. We're kind of early, so we can just go and hang out in Simon's room until class starts."

"Don't you have him first, anyway?" Marshall frowned.

"Nope. I have Literature. I have Simon after break for an hour." Marceline shrugged.

Marshall nodded. "Cool. Hey, you want to hang out with me and Bonnibel on Sunday?"

Marceline scoffed. "Yeah, I'd _love_ to hang out with you and your pet nerd."

He smirked a little. "I know you like her, Marce."

"I don't like her."

"Liar." Marshall replied. "Tell me how you really feel."

"I'm neutral." Marceline admitted. "I don't like her, but I don't dislike her."

Marshall grinned. "Really? That's awesome. Seriously, hang out with us on Sunday. She's bringing a friend who is a guy, maybe you can do some smoochin'."

"Fuck off, Marshall. Besides, that dude's gay."

"Whoa, what?" Marshall frowned.

"Mhm."

"Hm." Marshall shrugged. "That's cool, I don't judge."

"Anyways, let's go." Marceline replied, motioning towards the door.

He nodded, and the two walked outside and into Marceline's car.

Marceline didn't know how she felt when she walked into Simon's classroom and Bonnibel was stood talking to him. She sighed, walking past them and sitting down in Simon's desk chair, getting herself comfortable. Marshall perched on the edge of Simon's desk. "Hey, Bonnibel."

She smiled. "Hi, Marshall. Marceline."

Marceline looked up. "Hey."

"Did you do the History homework?"

"You'd better be joking right now." Marceline said.

Bonnibel chuckled a little. "Nope, sorry."

"I didn't even know we _had_ homework." Marceline sighed and slapped a hand to her forehead.

Bonnibel approached her, pulling a sheet out of her pink backpack. "Here. You can copy this if you'd like."

"Why are you helping me?" Marceline frowned. She was uncertain as to whether Bonnibel wanted something from her or if she was just being genuinely nice. Probably the former. Nobody was ever nice to Marceline.

"I owe you for helping me with Ricardio. He hasn't talked to me since you threatened him the other day." Bonnibel smiled, holding the sheet out.

Marceline took it and scanned it over. There were a set of about six questions, which Bonnibel had answered in huge paragraphs. "Is it cool if I borrow this to get the questions or whatever? I'll answer them myself at lunch."

Bonnibel nodded. "That's fine."

"I'll get it back to you at the end of lunch or in class or whatever."

Bonnibel smiled. "Okay."

"Thanks for this, dude."

"You're welcome." Bonnibel replied. "Honestly, you can copy all of my homework in exchange for getting rid of Ricardio."

Marceline smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

Marshall frowned. "That guy was still bugging you?"

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah, but Marceline got rid of him."

"If he bugs you again, let me know." Marceline said. "I hate guys like that."

Simon frowned. "What happened?"

"This boy wouldn't stop harassing me and asking me out, so Marceline basically threatened him with his life." Bonnibel chuckled.

Simon smiled. "I told her to stop being so mean, but she doesn't listen."

Marceline spun around on Simon's chair, laughing a little. "What, you want me to go over to the guy and gently pat him on the head and ask him to leave her alone all polite and stuff? Like he'd listen to that. Guys don't listen to anything until you threaten to shoot them in the dick or something."

Marshall cringed. "Painful."

Bonnibel found herself laughing at Marshall's reaction, but decided to change the subject for him. "Are you still hanging out with me and Gumball on Sunday?"

"Sure." Marshall nodded.

"Okay. I might not be able to come, after all." Bonnibel said.

Marshall pouted like a little kid who'd just been told off. "Aw! Why not?"

Bonnibel floundered. "Uh…um…" She looked around the room for something that might trigger an excuse, and eventually her eyes fell on Marceline. "Marceline and I are meeting up. She's going to help me get caught up in History."

Simon looked pleased at this, and Marceline stopped spinning around in Simon's chair and looked up at Bonnibel, an eyebrow quirked up in confusion. "I am?" Bonnibel's eyes widened and she looked at Marceline, pleading the girl to play along. Marceline caught on. "I _am_. Yeah."

Marshall frowned. "Really?"

Marceline nodded. "Yep."

He shrugged. "Oh. It's cool you're making friends, sis."

Marceline bit her lip, holding back laughter. "Yeah, totally."

"Anyways, I'm going to head to class. Later guys." With that, he walked out of the room.

The second the door shut behind him, Marceline burst out laughing, so much that there were tears in her eyes. "Oh my god, how did he _not_ figure out that was a lie? Fuck, how stupid can someone _be_!?"

"Marceline, be nice to your brother." Simon chastised her.

She wasn't listening. "You can tell I'm the oldest. I'm the alpha twin in every aspect."

Bonnibel laughed. "Alpha twin?"

"Yeah," Marceline said, "Like, I'm older and therefore wiser, and I'm smarter and stuff. I'm also cooler."

Bonnibel smiled a little. "Well, I'm going to go to my class. Have fun being the alpha twin, Marceline."

Marceline nodded. "I think I'm going to head off too."

"Why don't you guys walk together?" Simon suggested.

Marceline sighed, but didn't object as Bonnibel expected she would. "What've you got now?"

"Um…English Language." Bonnibel stated.

"Cool. We're going the same way. I have English Literature." Marceline replied, standing up and grabbing her black backpack and the homework sheet Bonnibel had given her.

Bonnibel frowned. "I thought only the smart people were allowed to do English Literature?" She blurted out.

Marceline looked up, eyebrows raised. "Yeah, and I'm smart. Get used to it, princess."

"Stop it with the princess, _Marcy_." Bonnibel countered.

"You're no fun." Marceline grumbled, making her way to the door, pulling it open.

"I am fun." Bonnibel insisted. "I just don't find being called 'princess' enjoyable."

Marceline walked out of the classroom, Bonnibel following closely behind. "Yeah, you like doing freaky ass science experiments."

"They're not freaky." Bonnibel replied. "Recently I conducted an experiment on -,"

"Yeah, yeah," Marceline interrupted. "I'm already tired enough, I don't need to be falling back to sleep already."

Bonnibel gave Marceline a gentle smack on the arm. "Shut up." She then realised what she'd just done. "Oh, god. I'm sorry. I forgot about your no touching rule, and I'm really sorry -,"

"Dude -,"

"Seriously, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Bonnibel rambled. "Please don't hurt me or anything."

"Dude, chill -,"

"You're going to kill me, aren't you? My friends warned me not to make you mad." Bonnibel continued.

Marceline realised the girl wasn't listening to her, and she raised her voice and grabbed Bonnibel by her shoulders. "Bonnibel!"

Bonnibel gulped. "What?"

"I'm not going to hurt you. I don't care if you touch me, okay? It's fine."

Then, Bonnibel did something incredibly unexpected. She pulled Marceline in for a tight hug.

And Marceline _liked _it.

* * *

><p>"It was <em>weird<em>, Keila." Marceline sighed as she sat down on Keila's couch. "You know how I don't like people that I'm not comfortable with touching me."

"Yeah." Keila nodded. "I don't know, man. Maybe you just feel protective over her or something. Didn't you say she's kind of innocent or whatever?"

"Maybe." Marceline bit down on her lip and leant back, getting herself comfortable. "I don't want to like her."

"Why not?" Keila questioned, sitting down and putting an arm around Marceline.

"It'd make it easier for her to hurt me." Marceline sighed. "You know, she's friends with the girl that always used to spread rumours about us."

"Ah. You're wary because of that." Keila smiled.

Marceline nodded. "I'm just saying, maybe LSP is making her be nice to me so they can do stuff to me or whatever."

"_Or_ she could actually just be nice." Keila suggested, wrapping her arms around Marceline in a hug. "Not everyone is some sort of evil agent out to get you, Marmalade."

Marceline sighed and rested her head on Keila's shoulder. "I know."

"You made friends with me just fine." Keila reminded her.

"I was five and you pitied me." Marceline rolled her eyes at the older girl.

Keila laughed. "And look where my pity got me. I'm glad that five year old you was a little butterfingers, though. If you hadn't have spilt marmalade all over me then we'd probably have never talked."

"And the best guitarist on the planet wouldn't be in my band." Marceline finished, a smile creeping onto her face.

Keila gave Marceline one last squeeze before letting go of her. "Come on, let's play some music or something."

Marceline sighed. "I don't know, I'm not really feeling it."

"I'll let you play on my Gibson."

"You know, suddenly I'm feeling quite musical." Marceline stood up, smirking.

"Wow, I wonder how that happened." Keila laughed, and the two of them walked into a different room where their band usually practiced.

It was a spacious room; originally it'd been a second bedroom, but Keila rarely had house guests and Bongo's parents were starting to get annoyed with how loud they were playing. Keila had moved out the second she'd turned 18, and got rid of her guest bed and kept the room as a band room. There were a few of Keila's many guitars hung on the white walls, and there was a drum kit opposite the door. Three microphones were set up – for Marshall, Keila and Marceline – and there was a black couch in the corner adjacent to the door. Most of Keila's guitars were organised on guitar racks which were near Bongo's drum kit. They were ordered in brands; Gibson, Epiphone, Fender and Taylor. Keila passed Marceline her newest purchase; a cherry red Gibson Les Paul. "Be careful with my precious."

Marceline laughed. "You know I will be."

"True, which is why I only let you play my guitars when the guys aren't here. They'd probably attempt to smash one to try and be 'punk rock' or something." Keila laughed.

Marceline walked over to the couch and sat down, strumming a few chords on the guitar. "It sounds really good unplugged."

"It's awesome when you plug it in and put a bit of distortion on it." Keila said. "I'm going to play my Fender."

"The Strat?"

"Nah, the Telecaster." Keila stated. "I changed the strings on it the other day, and on my Fender acoustic."

"Does your Epiphone SG still have a broken E string?" Marceline asked.

"Yeah, I keep saying I'm going to restring it, but I always forget. Got other things to do, you know?"

"Like getting drunk and ringing me at 3am?"

"Shut up, Marmalade."

Marceline chuckled a little and strummed the introduction to 'I Swear This Time I Mean It' by Mayday Parade, before sighing and putting the guitar down. "Yeah, I really have too much on my mind to play."

"We could go for a drive, if you want." Keila offered, grabbing her guitar and placing it back in the rack.

"Yeah, that'd be cool." Marceline nodded. "Do you want me to drive?"

"Nah, we'll take my car." Keila smiled. "We can go up to the cliff, if you want."

Marceline grinned. "Yeah. I like it up there."

The cliff was the one place Marceline didn't mind in the town. It took around ten minutes to get up there from Keila's apartment by car. There wasn't a road up to the top; you'd have to park at the bottom and walk up, but when you'd get there, it'd be worth it. The entire town could be seen from up there; you could even see other towns. It was exceptionally beautiful at night, when everything was lit up in different colours and the town became a sea of lights.

By the time Marceline and Keila had walked up, it was 5pm and just getting dark. They took a seat on the single cold bench and looked out towards their hometown, their breath coming out in puffs of smoke. Keila pulled out a packet of cigarettes and put one between her teeth. Marceline grabbed it and threw it as far as she could. "You said you'd quit."

Keila sighed and looked down and the pack, before hurling it off of the cliff. "I will."

Marceline hugged her. "Good."

"It's cute how you care about my health, Marmalade." Keila replied.

"Shut up. I just don't want you dying any earlier, okay?" Marceline gave Keila a light smack on the upper arm.

"Yeah, yeah." Keila smiled. "I'm glad you don't do it, you know? It's a bad habit. Kind of like how you bite your nails."

Marceline looked down to her fingernails, which she had bitten down as far as she could. "Yeah, I get it. I just hate smoking."

"So much that you have a t-shirt." Keila finished. "It'd be ironic if you wore it and started smoking."

"Good thing I don't plan on smoking any time soon."

"Good." Keila nodded.

"How's work?" Marceline asked.

"Boring, as usual. Still waiting on you to write that hit single." Keila joked, gently nudging Marceline.

"I'm working on it, I promise." Marceline laughed.

"How's school going, though?" Keila asked. "Grades, I mean. Not how much you hate socialising."

Marceline chuckled a little. "They're good, I guess."

"What're you getting?"

"Bs in all the sciences and math and As in everything else." Marceline shrugged.

Keila grinned. "That's awesome. I bet Simon was proud."

"Yeah."

"Your Mom would've been, too."

Marceline gulped, nodding. "Yeah."

Keila smiled. "Do you want to crash at mine tonight?"

Marceline shook her head. "Nah. I need my own bed. You can stay over if you want."

"Fuck yeah, your bed is the most comfortable thing ever."

"Remember that time you started a story with 'I was in Marmalade's bed'." Marceline laughed. "And everyone was like 'what the fuck'?"

Keila grinned. "Yeah, that was pretty funny," She threw an arm around Marceline's shoulders. "Shall we go to mine and I'll get my stuff to stay at yours?"

"Yeah, sure." Marceline nodded.

Keila stood up and held out a hand, pulling Marceline up from the bench they were sat on. Marceline shot her a grateful smile and the two walked away from the cliff's edge and towards Keila's car.

As they descended from the cliff's edge, Keila slung an arm around Marceline's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "I love you, okay?"

"Love you too, dork." Marceline smiled, shrugging Keila's arm off her. "Race you to the car!"

She'd shot off down the hill before Keila could process what she'd just said, and the older girl chuckled before chasing after her.

* * *

><p>They arrived at Marceline's house and said a quick hello to Simon who was sat in the living room watching a science show. Marshall had apparently gone out with Guy and Bongo. Marceline gave Simon a quick hug and went upstairs with Keila, collapsing on her bed. "I vote we get in our pyjamas now."<p>

"I second that." Keila grinned.

Neither of them bothered going into a separate room to get changed; they'd changed in front of one another so many times in the past twelve years that it didn't bother either of them. Once they'd gotten changed, the two of them laid down on Marceline's bed, and Marceline turned on her TV. "What do you want to watch?"

"Shaun of the Dead."

"Specific." Marceline commented, standing up and opening up her DVD drawer.

Keila shifted on her bed, producing Hambo from behind her back. "I think I sat on Hambo."

Marceline smiled a little. "That's cool, man."

"Remember when you used to carry him around 24/7. You literally brought him to school." Keila teased, smirking.

"Shut up." Marceline's cheeks flushed as she looked through her DVDs.

"You were cute. What happened?"

"I got cuter."

"Well played, Abadeer."

Marceline grinned. "Not going to lie, I do sometimes wish it was socially acceptable for me to take him to school."

Keila laughed. "Aw, Marmalade! I'll admit, it was one of the reasons I pitied you when you were a little loner kindergarten."

"I wasn't a loner."

"Even Marshall didn't talk to you, and he's your twin brother." Keila pointed out.

"Shut up." Marceline mumbled, grabbing the right DVD and walking over to her TV, putting it in the player and walking back over to her bed, lying down next to Keila. "I had Hambo."

"A teddy bear." Keila laughed.

"Why were you even nice to me then? I was so fucking weird."

"Because I realised you had no friends and I felt bad because I'd shouted at you." Keila shrugged. "I was actually only going to be nice to you until you made friends your own age but that never happened and you grew on me."

Marceline scoffed. "And that's why you want me to make friends with Bonnibel! You want to get rid of me."

Keila lightly slapped Marceline in the arm. "Shut up, you know I love you."

Marceline smirked. "You'd better do."

That night, Marceline went to sleep with a smile on her face. Spending time with Keila really did lift her spirits, and she was grateful she had a friend as good as her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Monday 27****th**** January 2014.**

On Friday, Bonnibel found out that German was an available class at her new school. She was overjoyed. She'd excelled in German back in New York, and it was her favourite class, so as soon as she found out that she could take it, she went to the office to request a timetable change. It took up half of her lunchtime, but she managed to drop Art – which she had taken up because there was nothing else – and replace it with German. Her timetable had changed about a little bit, but it was nothing she couldn't get used to. Her English Literature was where she previously had English Language, and Literature was where Art had been. German took up her old Literature spot.

She still got confused when she went to school on Monday.

She knew she had German after lunch, and when she checked her timetable at break, she realised she had absolutely no idea where the German room was. She had stopped using her map after her first week; she hadn't thought about the possibility of switching classes, and had thrown it in the garbage once she'd become comfortable with her surroundings. She'd asked her friends, and none of them had any clue, either. She even asked Marceline when she sat down in History.

"You don't know where this room is, do you?" She spread her new timetable out on the desk between her and Marceline, who was pulling her notebook out of her backpack.

Marceline scanned over Bonnibel's timetable, following the other girl's finger. She took the wire of her left earphone from her mouth which she'd been chewing, finally sending Bonnibel a small nod. "Yeah. I know where it is."

"Could you show me?" Bonnibel questioned, folding up her timetable and placing it neatly in the front pocket of her pink backpack. "I'd really appreciate it."

"I guess," Marceline shrugged. "Also, we have Language and Literature together."

"You were creeping on my schedule?" Bonnibel chuckled, shooting Marceline a small smile.

"I was curious." Marceline replied, running a hand through her messy black hair.

Bonnibel's eyes fixed on Marceline's left wrist, which was almost completely covered with brightly coloured bracelets; probably the only time Marceline would ever wear any colour other than black or grey, Bonnibel guessed. "You have a lot of bracelets."

Marceline's eyebrows arched, and she followed Bonnibel's gaze, examining her arm as if she didn't realise they were there. "Oh…yeah, I guess. They're mostly just Warped Tour wristbands – I go every year – and band merch."

"Warped Tour?" Bonnibel felt a frown settle across her face. "What's that?"

"It's a huge tour of like thirty different bands and artists. It's pretty rad." Marceline shrugged. "People say it's like a summer camp for bands."

"It sounds like fun." Bonnibel commented.

"It is." Marceline assured, circling one of the wristbands with her forefinger. "I've been every year since 2010. 2012 was my favourite year, probably."

Bonnibel smiled. "I take it you're going this year?"

Marceline nodded, her side-bangs falling into her eyes. "Yeah."

Bonnibel watched as Marceline ran a hand through her hair. "So, you'll walk me to my German class at the end of lunch."

"Yeah, I guess." Marceline played with the hem of her t-shirt, before meeting Bonnibel's blue eyes. "Where shall I meet you?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "I don't mind. I'll come to Simon's classroom if you want."

Marceline nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thank you in advance, by the way."

Marceline didn't reply, and instead began scribbling in her notebook, positioning herself so Bonnibel couldn't see what she was writing. Bonnibel watched the girl for a while, but eventually turned her attention to the lesson.

* * *

><p>"You're a real pain in my ass, princess." Marceline complained as Bonnibel insisted on stopping off at the cafeteria to buy a snack.<p>

"Back at you, Marcy." Bonnibel stated. "Especially when you call me princess."

"Will you stop fucking calling me Marcy? It's not cool, man." Marceline sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Stop calling me princess and we have a deal."

"Fine, whatever." Marceline huffed. "We're not stopping at the cafeteria, though."

"If I drag you, you might have to." Bonnibel stated, gripping onto Marceline's wrist and pulling her along.

Marceline groaned, but didn't complain as Bonnibel pulled her through the double doors to the cafeteria. "You're too much, nerd."

Bonnibel kept a tight grip on Marceline's arm as she dragged her through the cafeteria. "Don't act like you can't tolerate it."

"Fuck off." Marceline muttered, yanking her arm from Bonnibel's grip. "I'm not going to escape, you know. You don't need to keep me on a leash."

"Promise?"

Marceline huffed. "I promise. Just hurry the fuck up and buy whatever you're buying."

"Is there any need for that language?" Bonnibel chided, picking up an apple and delving in her backpack for her money.

"Is there any need for your face?" Marceline shot back.

"Good one." Bonnibel laughed, paying for her apple and walking out of the cafeteria and almost straight into Lady and LSP. She noticed Marceline tense up. "Hey guys."

LSP eyed Marceline as if she was some sort of rabid animal ready to attack. "Hi, Bubblegum."

Lady tried her best to ignore the pale girl stood biting at her fingernails. "Bonnibel."

"Why aren't you guys outside?" Bonnibel questioned.

Lady smiled. "LSP wanted me to wait with her for Brad."

Bonnibel nodded. "I see,"

"So, what're you two doing?" Lady asked.

"Oh, Marceline's showing me the way to German." Bonnibel turned to the other girl with a smile. "Right?"

Marceline looked up, eyebrows arched. "What? Oh, yeah."

"I didn't know you two were friends." Lady said, a tone of disapproval in her voice.

"We're not." Marceline was quick to reply.

"Yeah, we're _best_ friends."

"Will you ever drop that?"

"Probably not." Bonnibel grinned, before tugging Marceline's sleeve. "Come on, let's go."

Marceline nodded and led Bonnibel through the school, all the way to the German room, which was hidden away at the end of a corridor. "Here."

"Thanks. How do you know where it is, anyway?" Bonnibel questioned.

Marceline shrugged. "Keila used to do it."

"Oh, that's really cool." Bonnibel lingered in the doorway for a minute.

"Aren't you going to go in? You're early, but you might as well." Marceline frowned.

Bonnibel stared at Marceline with an unreadable expression. "Yeah, it's just…,"

"Spit it out, nerd."

"Thanks for everything." Bonnibel mumbled, refusing to meet Marceline's crimson gaze. "You don't even know me all that well and you've helped me a lot."

Marceline frowned. "I haven't done anything."

Bonnibel wrapped her arms around Marceline's middle and hugged her, nestling her face into the girl's pale neck, inhaling the strong scent of strawberries. Marceline didn't hug back. "You have. You saved me from Ricardio, you taught me about music, and you helped me today. So, thanks. If there's anything I can do in return, please let me know."

"You can get off me, for starters."

Bonnibel quickly retreated her arms and moved away from the pale girl. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Marceline waved a hand dismissively. "You know what you can do for me?"

"What?" Bonnibel's smile was eager; she was anxious to repay Marceline for everything.

"Stay the fuck away from me."

Bonnibel felt her stomach drop, and her jaw went along with it. "What? But I thought -,"

"We're not friends, princess. We never will be." Marceline stated. "I told you that."

"But -,"

"No. I'm going. Don't talk to me again, got it?"

Bonnibel didn't have a chance to reply. Marceline was already walking back in the direction they came in.

* * *

><p>"Marshall, why did Marceline tell me to leave her alone?"<p>

"She's scared of you."

"_Marceline_?"

"Yep." Marshall nodded. "She actually kind of likes you so typically she's avoiding you. She's weird."

"Can I make her stop avoiding me?"

"Probably not." He stated, before placing the Chemistry book he was holding on Bonnibel's lap. "So, this is what I really didn't get in class,"

Bonnibel tuned out. Marceline _liked_ her? She couldn't help but feel overjoyed at that new information. All Bonnibel had to do was make Marceline talk to her again, and they maybe had a shot at becoming friends.

"Are you even listening to me?" Marshall chuckled, leaning back on the couch.

"Is it that obvious?" Bonnibel retorted, eyebrow quirked up.

"What're you thinking about?" Marshall asked.

"Isn't _that_ obvious?"

"Marceline's really getting to you, huh?" Marshall let out a sigh, standing up from the soft couch and stretching. "I'll go talk to her."

"Please don't." Bonnibel grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down. "I need to do the talking."

"You know where her room is."

"I didn't mean now!" Bonnibel exclaimed, flicking through the pages in the textbook she was holding. "I have to tutor you."

"You clearly have too much on your mind to do that. Go talk to her. She won't bite." Marshall assured.

Bonnibel stood up and sighed. "I'm doing this purely to clear my mind, got it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure."

Bonnibel left the room and made her way up the stairs, which creaked slightly under her weight. She remembered the directions to Marceline's room, and she stood in front of the white bedroom door for a few minutes, contemplating her next move. She listened to check if Marceline was actually in her room, letting out a low chuckle upon hearing the noises of a video game and Marceline frequently using words such as 'motherfucker'. She finally plucked up the courage to knock on Marceline's bedroom door.

"Come in." Was said from inside, so Bonnibel gently pushed open the door to see Marceline sprawled out on her bed on her stomach, playing a game that looked to be something like Grand Theft Auto.

The game paused, and two crimson eyes fell on Bonnibel. "What do you want?"

"To talk." Bonnibel awkwardly lingered in the doorway.

"You can sit down, if you want." Marceline motioned to her bed. "But close the door first."

Bonnibel pushed the door closed and nervously made her way over to Marceline. She awkwardly perched herself on the edge of the other girl's bed. "So…"

"What do you want, princess?"

"You like me?"

Marceline frowned. "No. Who said that?"

"Marshall."

"Well, he's lying." Marceline finished, laying back down on her stomach and unpausing her game. "If that's all you're here to talk about, you can go."

"He said that you actually like me and that you're scared so you're avoiding me and that's why you told me to leave you alone," Bonnibel continued, tugging on the hem of her shirt. "And that makes no sense."

"I don't like you," Marceline stated.

Bonnibel felt an odd sinking feeling in her stomach. "Oh."

"_But_," Marceline began, "I don't dislike you."

"You're neutral." Bonnibel concluded.

"Yeah."

Bonnibel smiled. "That's great."

"Why, exactly?"

"Because you might end up liking me."

Marceline snorted and paused her game. "If you think we're going to be best friends and ride off into the sunset on a magical flying pony, you've got another thing coming. Just because I can tolerate you doesn't mean there's any chance of a friendship."

Bonnibel sighed.

"Sorry to disappoint, nerd."

"You're difficult." Bonnibel evaluated.

Marceline's game was resumed. "And? Shouldn't you be tutoring my dumbass of a brother?"

"Yes. I'll be getting back to that now." Bonnibel stated. "And don't be mean to your brother."

As Bonnibel walked towards Marceline's door, she heard a cackle. "Don't tell me what to do."

Bonnibel walked out of the door, pausing before shutting it behind her. "Do I still have to leave you alone?"

Marceline let out a long sigh, sitting up on her bed. "I guess not."

Bonnibel smiled. "Good. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Whatever, nerd."

"A simple goodbye would be nice."

"You not existing would be nice."

It was pretty obvious that upset Bonnibel, as the pink haired girl inhaled sharply. "Right. Okay. I'll go. Bye."

"Hey, wait."

Bonnibel sighed. "What?"

"Sorry. You not existing would actually be kinda lame."

Bonnibel looked at Marceline in surprise. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah." Marceline mumbled, before the usual scowl returned to her face, spinning around and unpausing her game. "Now get out of my room."

Bonnibel tiptoed back over to Marceline's bed and wrapped her arms around Marceline's middle, making the other girl jump. The pause screen flashed on the TV again. "Thanks, Marceline."

"You really have to chill with the hugging."

Bonnibel gave Marceline one last squeeze. "Or you need to get used to the hugging."

Marceline sighed. "You're really something, princess."

"What did I say about that nickname?"

"My sincerest apologies, your Majesty." Marceline mocked.

Bonnibel gently smacked the other girl's arm. "Shut up. I'm going to go back downstairs. I'll see you if you come down."

"Whatever, dork." Marceline shifted so she was lying on her stomach, unpausing her game and ignoring Bonnibel, who walked away from the other girl and slipped out of the room, heading back downstairs to Marshall who'd abandoned the studying and started watching TV.

He smiled when he saw her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. She was actually kind of nice to me." Bonnibel said, a slight smile playing at her lips.

"She's not good at talking to other people." Marshall laughed. "But she is somehow able to have a full conversation with Schwabl."

Bonnibel looked down at the white poodle who was napping in his basket. "Cute."

"Oh, by the way," Marshall's face lit up, "My friend Guy's parents are out of town so he's having a party this Friday and he said I can invite whoever I want, so you can come, if you want. Bring Gumball too, he's awesome. Fuck it, bring all your friends."

"A party? Parties aren't really my scene." Bonnibel started, a small blush on her cheeks.

"I kind of figured, but it'll be fine. Just stick with your friends." Marshall shrugged. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Bonnibel sighed. "I guess I could go for maybe an hour."

"Awesome!" Marshall grinned. "I'll text you the address. What's your number?"

Bonnibel recited her phone number from memory, and Marshall quickly typed it into his phone. "It won't be too wild, will it?"

He chuckled, shrugging. "Course not. It'll be fine. You'll have fun."

Bonnibel sighed to herself. She wished she could believe him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Friday 31****st**** January 2014.**

Bonnibel had known Marshall was just lying to her when he said the party wouldn't be too wild.

She was surrounded by drunken idiots. The room was hazy; the effect of a lot of people smoking suspicious looking cigarettes, and the music was so loud it made it impossible for Bonnibel to gather her thoughts and think of a sensible way out of this.

Her friends were out of the question. Everyone except herself and Lady were at least tipsy, and Bonnibel didn't have a driver's licence and Lady didn't have access to a car and wouldn't leave Jake to do anything stupid. She was stranded unless she found somebody to help her out of this situation.

She'd known she would dislike parties ever since she started high school. Actually having gone to one, she decided she _hated_ parties.

She was aimlessly wandering around the unfamiliar house, when she collided with a very drunk girl. "Sorry, I wasn't looking, I -,"

"No problem, man. It's all good." The girl slurred, wobbling about a bit on the spot.

Bonnibel got a good look at the girl. She had tight curls which were pulled back into some sort of bun that Bonnibel hadn't seen done before. She had a silver nose ring in her right nostril, which at first was rather off-putting for Bonnibel. The girl's olive skin was flawless, and she had two hazel eyes that, underneath the influence of the alcohol, looked kind and caring. Bonnibel decided to introduce herself. "Hi. I'm Bonnibel."

"_You're_ Bonnibel!" The girl exclaimed, holding her cup which was filled with a questionable substance up in the air, as if she was performing a toast. "Marmalade told me 'bout you!"

Bonnibel frowned. "Marmalade? I'm afraid I don't know anybody called Marmalade."

The girl ignored Bonnibel's statement. "I'm Keila," She hiccupped.

"You're Marceline's friend, right?" Bonnibel questioned.

Keila threw a drunken arm around Bonnibel's shoulders and attempted to walk down the hallway they were in. Keila staggered over, and Bonnibel quickly held the older girl up. "Thanks! I lost Marmalade, see."

Bonnibel forced a smile and nodded, rather confused by the other girl's statement. "Yeah. Do you need help finding your marmalade?"

"Yeah! I think she went to Guy's room." Keila slurred, almost tripping over a cable for the telephone that had been knocked onto the floor in the middle of the hallway.

"Is that upstairs?" Bonnibel asked.

Keila giggled. "Duh! Who has a bedroom _downstairs_? That's backwards, yo."

Bonnibel assisted Keila towards the rather steep flight of stairs, knowing it would be a terrible task to get her up there. "Are you sure you need to go up there?"

"Yeah!" Keila hiccupped. "Marmalade is up there!"

Bonnibel frowned. "O_kay_…let's go."

It was hard getting Keila up the stairs; the older girl tripped up on most of them and nearly pulled Bonnibel down the entire flight when they got to the top. Keila let go of Bonnibel and went staggering over to a door, colliding with it.

"Ouch." Keila rubbed her head and pouted like a little kid, and Bonnibel jogged over to the other girl and attempted to help her up.

Eventually, she managed to help Keila get to her destination, and the older girl ran off the second the room door was opened crying, "Marmalade!" with a stupid grin on her face.

Bonnibel was confused as to why the girl was so obsessed with marmalade. She figured she'd just ask Marceline when she next saw her. She was walking back towards the staircase when she heard a second voice from inside the room, one that sounded familiar.

"Fuck, you're hammered."

Bonnibel peered around the door to see Keila hugging Marceline, who was sat on a bed holding a guitar. Keila shot Bonnibel a toothy grin and pointed towards her. "She helped me up here."

Marceline followed Keila's finger until her crimson eyes met with Bonnibel's blue ones. "Oh."

"She's really nice, Marmalade. You should make friends with her." Keila advised.

Bonnibel snickered a little. It was _Marceline_ Keila had been referring to the entire time? Marceline sighed. "I know she's nice. Now shut up, you're being weird."

"But Marmalade -,"

"Nope. I'm going to drive you home in a minute, okay?" Marceline said, leaning away from Keila and placing the guitar in her arms against the wall.

Keila pouted. "But I want to party."

"You've partied. Do you want to stay over at mine tonight?" Marceline questioned, before turning to Bonnibel. "Hey, you wouldn't mind getting a glass of water for her, would you?"

Bonnibel shook her head. "No. I'll be right back."

She slipped out of the room and jogged down the stairs, pushing through crowds of people and making her way into the kitchen. She had to search through the wooden cupboards until she eventually found a glass, pouring tap water into in and slipping back upstairs. Bonnibel entered the room and sat down on Keila's right, passing her the glass. Keila smiled. "Thanks, but I'm not thirsty."

Marceline sighed. "Drink it."

"No."

"You'll regret it in the morning." Marceline warned.

Keila let out a long sigh, quickly downing the water. "There. Can I go and party now?"

"No, I'm going to take you home." Marceline said.

"To your house?"

"To my house." Marceline confirmed, before her eyes landed on Bonnibel. "You want a ride?"

Bonnibel's eyes widened. "Are you sure? I really don't want to be a burden on you."

Marceline shrugged. "It's fine. I owe you for taking care of this mess right here," She jabbed her thumb in Keila's direction.

"Okay. Thanks." Bonnibel smiled.

Marceline nodded. "It's cool."

Marceline stood up, and for the first time, Bonnibel noticed the nose ring in Marceline's left nostril. "I didn't realise you had your nose pierced."

"Oh, yeah." Marceline replied in the midst of helping Keila up from where she was sat on the bed. "I'm not allowed to wear it in school. Apparently my inappropriate face jewellery is distracting and thug-like."

"The school said that to you?"

"Yep, first day of this year. Funny though, because in sophomore year they were perfectly fine with it." Marceline rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Fucking dickheads."

Bonnibel didn't comment, but was honestly shocked with how she thought the piercing suited Marceline. Usually she would find that sort of thing terrifying and would steer clear from anyone who had one. "It suits you."

"Oh…thanks."

Marceline and Bonnibel half walked, half carried Keila to Marceline's car, laying her down in the backseat. The drive to Marceline's house was mostly silent aside from the occasional groan from Keila in the back, and they'd pulled up in front of the house in no time. "I'm just going to take her inside and put her to bed."

"I can help, if you want." Bonnibel offered.

Marceline frowned a little, but shrugged. "I guess, if you're cool with that."

They said a quick hello to Simon who was watching some sort of game show with Schwabl cuddled next to him on the couch, and then walked Keila upstairs and into Marceline's bedroom. Marceline chucked a t-shirt and some pyjama shorts at her. "Put those on. I'll be back in a little bit."

"Where are you going?" Keila mumbled.

"I have to take Bonnibel home."

"Okay. Have fun Marmalade."

"Whatever." Marceline then turned to Bonnibel and frowned. "You _really_ need to change your shirt."

Bonnibel looked down at her t-shirt. It was pink, as were most of her clothes, but there didn't seem to be any stains on it or anything. "Why?"

"You can smell pot on that from a mile away." Marceline stated.

Bonnibel gasped, sniffing her shirt. It smelt just like the smoke at the party. "Oh, no! I told my parents I was going to Lady's for a bit. They're going to kill me!"

"Dude, chill." Marceline dug around in her t-shirt drawer, pulling out a shirt and tossing it to Bonnibel. "Just wear this."

Bonnibel examined the shirt. It was black, and had a rather…intriguing graphic of some sort of dead marshmallows impaled on sticks, with a yellow snake slithering in between them. It wasn't exactly her style; her parents would definitely question it. "Won't my parents notice something?"

"Just tell them you spilt something on your other shirt and had to borrow one." Marceline shrugged. "It'll be fine, dude. Spray yourself with some deodorant and change shirts and you should be fine."

Bonnibel nodded, quickly jogging into the bathroom and locking the door. She tugged off her other t-shirt and pulled on Marceline's. The scent hit her like a ton of bricks. The t-shirt had a beautiful aroma that was a mixture of strawberries – Marceline's perfume – and a beautiful scent that reminded her of all the wonders in life. It reminded her of watching sunsets, walking on cold winter nights and getting lost on purpose just for the fun of it. It was intoxicating. It was so _Marceline_.

She shook her head and snapped herself out of her trance, allowing herself to sniff the t-shirt one last time before walking back into Marceline's room, where the girl was waiting on her bed for her. She was thrown a bottle of perfume. "Use that and just leave your other shirt here. I'll try get it back to you for Monday."

Bonnibel did as Marceline said, and then the other girl stood up. "Alright, let's get you home. Keila, try not to hurt yourself while I'm gone."

She got a grunt in response.

Bonnibel trailed after Marceline until they got to her car. Bonnibel climbed into the passenger seat, a question nagging at her mind. "Marceline? Why does Keila call you Marmalade?"

This elicited a light-hearted chuckle from the dark haired girl, a sound that was music to Bonnibel's ears. "It's a long story."

"I've got the time."

"I was like, five," Marceline began, a small smile tugging at her lips, "And Keila was seven. Our elementary school had this breakfast club thing, and basically you could go and get free breakfast, so my parents would always drop me and Marshall off there. I was pretty much a total loser. Like, my only friend was a fucking teddy bear."

Bonnibel cooed. "Aw, Marceline!"

"Yeah, yeah," Marceline rolled her eyes, "Anyways, one day I was eating toast and I decided I wanted some marmalade on it, so I walked over and grabbed the huge pot of it, and as I was walking back over to where I was sat, I tripped and spilt it all over Keila. She got mad and yelled at me and me being an over emotional little idiot I started crying, and then she felt really bad and pitied me. Twelve years later, here we are."

"And she _still_ calls you Marmalade?" Bonnibel laughed. "That's so cute!"

"She told me she's never going to stop calling me it no matter what." Marceline replied. "She's actually only called me Marceline once, and it was the day we met."

"That's a really cute story." Bonnibel smiled. "How did you meet your other bandmates?"

"Marshall and I met them through Keila when we were in sixth grade and they were in eighth. We didn't actually start a band until we were in freshman year and they were in their junior year." Marceline explained. "Guy didn't join the band for another few months, though. He plays keyboard."

"What do you play?"

"I play bass and sing."

"That's amazing!" Bonnibel exclaimed. "It must take a lot of concentration to play both at the same time, and at such a speed. You're a rock band, I assume, so there must be a lot of fast songs. I could _never_ do that. My Dad tried to teach me guitar once, but I was really terrible. It's so impressive that you can do that. Do you play any other instruments?"

Marceline looked as if that was a lot of information to process, which it probably was. "Uh…not in the band, but yeah."

"What else do you play?"

"Guitar, violin, piano, keyboard, ukulele and banjo." Marceline listed, Bonnibel's eyes widening more considerably as the other girl went on.

"That's amazing!" Bonnibel gasped, "Did they all take a while to learn?"

"Not really. Give me a couple of hours and I can usually play pretty fluently. Depends on the instrument, really. Like, I learnt guitar before bass, and bass is just the four lowest strings of the guitar, so that was pretty easy."

"Easy?" Bonnibel exclaimed. "I couldn't even play a note on guitar. It hurt my fingers too much."

"Yeah, your fingers get all calloused after a while. The fingers on my left hand – the hand that presses on the strings – are."

"Interesting." Bonnibel mused. "Did it not hurt to get them like that?"

"Oh, yeah." Marceline nodded, "But I was eight and I believed Simon when he promised it'd get better."

"Simon plays guitar?"

"No." Marceline stated. "He _does_ play drums though."

"Can you?" Bonnibel questioned.

Marceline laughed. A real laugh that took Bonnibel by surprise. "No, I'm _really_ bad at playing drums. I've tried like twice. I can't focus on doing like twenty different things at once."

"Maybe if you practised you might get better." Bonnibel suggested.

"Nah, percussion isn't really my thing." Marceline dismissed her. "You said your Dad plays guitar?"

Bonnibel was surprised that Marceline was actually making an effort to keep the conversation going. "Yeah, he's played for a couple of years. He decided to learn and then he told me he'd teach me and that didn't go very well. He has an acoustic guitar at our house. It's in his office, usually."

"What brand?"

"I don't know, I haven't looked or anything." Bonnibel shrugged. "I wouldn't be able to tell, probably."

"It's usually written on the head of the guitar." Marceline told her.

Bonnibel nodded. "What type of guitars do you have?"

"I have four electrics and 3 acoustics. The first electric I got was a really cheap Epiphone, one is an ESP, one is a Fender and the other – my favourite – is a Gibson. I got a Fender acoustic for Christmas last year and it's definitely my favourite of my acoustics, and then one of the others is an Epiphone and the other is the first guitar I ever got and it cost me like $20 and it's too small for me now because it's only like a half sized one but I won't ever get rid of it because I learnt to play on it." Marceline explained.

"Cool," Bonnibel responded, although she didn't quite understand which brand of guitar Marceline mentioned was good and she didn't really know how to respond.

"You didn't understand any of that, did you?" Marceline questioned, a smirk on her face.

"No, I didn't." Bonnibel smiled, as the car pulled up in front of her house. "Thanks for the ride and the shirt."

"No problem. Don't worry about getting that shirt back to me. I don't really wear it." Marceline shrugged. "Besides, you seemed like you wanted to get out of that party. Not your scene, huh?"

"Not at all." Bonnibel chuckled. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't worry about it, man." Marceline shrugged. "You're just lucky I was appointed Keila's driver."

"Otherwise you would've been as bad as her?" Bonnibel finished.

Marceline nodded. "Yeah, probably."

"Well, thanks." Bonnibel smiled, and leaned over to give Marceline a quick hug.

Marceline held Bonnibel at arm's length. "Yeah…no hugging."

"Why?"

"I don't like it."

"You don't like _hugs_?" Bonnibel exclaimed as if it was some sort of crime.

"I do like hugs, just not when the person giving me them isn't my friend."

"Please?" Bonnibel pouted.

Marceline examined Bonnibel for a second, before she let out a heavy sigh. "Fine."

Bonnibel wrapped her arms around Marceline's tense, skinny form, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Thanks for everything. Drive safe."

"Will do, dork." Marceline rolled her eyes, pulling Bonnibel's arms from around her. "Now get out of my car."

Bonnibel slowly climbed out of the car. "Bye, Marceline."

"Later, dork."

Bonnibel walked up her driveway and into her welcoming, warm house. Her mother arrived from the living room the second she heard the front door shut. "Did you have fun with your friends?"

Bonnibel nervously watched as her Mom examined her shirt. "Yeah."

"What's with the outfit change, Bonnibel?"

"I spilt some Pepsi on my other shirt so I borrowed one from a friend. She's going to get it back to me at school on Monday."

Her Mom seemed to buy it. "Okay. Are you going up to bed now?"

Bonnibel checked her watch. 10:30PM. "Yeah. I'll see you in the morning."

She jogged upstairs before her Mom could ask her what she'd done with her friends and stripped from the blue jeans she was wearing. She pulled on a comfortable pair of pink pyjama shorts, and she didn't take the shirt Marceline had given her off, and snuggled down in her bed. She put her phone on charge and quickly went on Facebook, sending Marceline a message.

Bonnibel: My parents believed the story. Thanks again. :)

She didn't expect Marceline to reply, but she did.

Marceline: good to know

Bonnibel: Have a good night with Keila.

Marceline: yeah yeah

Marceline: sweet dreams, princess

Bonnibel: Without the sarcastic monotone you seem to have mastered, that just sounds like a loving gesture ;)

Marceline: fuck off

Bonnibel laughed, locking her phone and rolling over in her bed. She heard it vibrate, and she quickly rolled back over and read the message.

Marceline: just kidding don't fuck off

She smiled. That was sweet, coming from Marceline. She looked down at her shirt and smiled even wider, taking in the scent of the soft cotton, and thought about how nice Marceline had been tonight. It was almost comforting.

"_Don't worry about getting that shirt back to me."_

_Oh, don't worry, Marceline,_ Bonnibel thought, _I won't_.


	11. Chapter 11

**i should probably proof read before i upload but guess what i'm not going to**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Friday 7<strong>**th**** February 2014**

It was Lady's seventeenth birthday, and all of Bonnibel's friends were upbeat for the whole day. Bonnibel hadn't been told about the day, so she didn't get Lady anything, but she did wish her friend a happy birthday and promised her that she'd buy something for her as soon as she could. Obviously, Lady had told her not to worry about it.

Bonnibel had grown closer with most of the group – Gumball especially. He was the only one of her friends she saw on a weekend, and they got together to study in the library every so often. LSP had accused her of having a crush on him, and Bonnibel was ridiculously amused by that statement. He _really _wasn't Bonnibel's type.

Marshall had been getting a lot closer with her friends, too. He and Gumball had hit it off pretty well, and although Finn and Jake were both still intimidated by him, they were warming up to him. Marshall had developed a small friendship with Lady, and everyone was surprised when he came into school and handed Lady a card with his signature smirk on his face, earning him a glare from Jake. Everyone was pretty shocked that he knew it was Lady's birthday and she even gave Marshall a hug.

Everyone was even more shocked when he offered to hold the party at his place that night.

"Uh…I think we were just planning on celebrating on movie day tomorrow." Finn murmured.

Jake frowned. "Won't your creepy sister be at your house, anyway?"

"Marceline? Nah, she doesn't really leave her room." Marshall shrugged. "Besides, Simon will be out so we'll basically have the house to ourselves."

Lady smiled. "I think that's a great idea."

LSP scoffed. "I'm not going if _Marceline_ is going to be there."

"She won't be." Marshall assured. "She'll lock herself in her bedroom and ignore all of us."

LSP clearly wasn't believing him. "We were going to have a slumber party at my house anyways. Just the girls."

"We can do that, too." Marshall said. "Simon doesn't mind if I have girls sleep over. My band has sleepovers all the time. 3 guys, 2 girls. It doesn't matter, I swear. Who's in?"

"I'll come." Gumball hastily replied. Bonnibel giggled at the pink blush on his cheeks.

Fionna scowled at Marshall. "Ugh, I guess I will too."

Cake frowned at Fionna. "I'll go as your bodyguard."

Lady smiled. "Jake and I will go."

Jake frowned. "Um, I don't think so."

Lady scowled at him. "You're coming. Finn?"

"I'll go if Bubblegum's going." Finn said, directing his gaze to her. "She can stop Marceline if she tries to kill any of us."

"I don't get why you guys think I have some sort of control over her." Bonnibel frowned. "We're not even friends."

Marshall scoffed. "Yeah, right. You coming or what?"

Bonnibel sighed. "I guess so."

Marshall grinned. "Awesome."

Finn looked to LSP. "Well? You're the only one that's not said they're coming?"

"Whatever. I guess." LSP stated, obnoxiously flicking her blonde hair from her face. She turned to Marshall and glared. "But if your creepy vampire sister does anything, I'm outta there."

Marshall snickered a little. "_Vampire_? Okay, I'll make sure my sister doesn't suck your blood." Bonnibel cringed at his sarcastic tone, and knew LSP wasn't too happy about it.

"Freak. There's something wrong with both of you, and I know it." LSP glared.

Marshall laughed a little. "Whatever, dude. Marceline doesn't care what you think, and neither do I."

* * *

><p>Marceline wasn't too happy with the news her brother brought home that day. "You invited those fucking idiots round? I'm sorry, but are you high? No."<p>

"Bonnibel will be here." Marshall commented.

Marceline raised an eyebrow. "And why should I give a fuck?"

"Because you like her."

"I _tolerate_ her."

"Which is code for you like her."

"Fuck off." Marceline snapped. "Tell your stupid new friends to fuck off, too."

"They'll be here in half an hour. Be nice." Marshall stated.

Marceline sighed. "You really think I'm going to listen to you? You've known me for seventeen years and you _still_ think I'm going to do anything you say? You really are a fucking idiot."

"You've been like, ten times bitchier lately." Marshall exclaimed. "Would you knock it off?"

"And you've been ten times more annoying." Marceline shot back. "Whatever. Just tell your friends to keep it down."

With that, she slammed her bedroom door on him and flopped down on her bed, letting out a long sigh. She knew it'd be a long night.

* * *

><p>Bonnibel was actually having fun.<p>

She'd arrived at Marshall's house, and her friends were all already there, blasting music as loud as possible and messing around in the front room. They'd soon stopped that, and turned to watching stupid R rated comedy movies and Marshall decided they should order pizza.

"Yo, Bonnibel?"

She looked up to see Marshall smiling at her. "Yes?"

"Can you go upstairs and ask Marceline if she wants anything from the pizza place?"

Bonnibel nodded and stood up. "Okay."

She went upstairs to Marceline's room, and paused outside the bedroom door when she heard the soft strumming of a guitar. She smiled. It was incredibly relaxing.

When she knocked on the door, the strumming ceased. "If it's Marshall out there, you can come in. If it's any of his new nerd friends, fuck off."

Bonnibel gulped. "It's me."

"Princess?" Marceline's tone was quizzical.

"I told you not to call me that." Bonnibel sighed. "I'll go, it's fine."

She started walking towards the stairs, when she heard the door open behind her. She turned to see Marceline stood leaning against the door frame, Schwabl sat on her bed wagging his tail. "What do you want?"

"Marshall wanted to know if you wanted anything from the pizza place."

"Uh…yeah. Pepperoni pizza."

"Okay." Bonnibel nodded. "I'll let him know."

"Cool."

There was a rather awkward silence, and Bonnibel looked Marceline over. She had her nose ring in, and she was wearing a black Buffy the Vampire Slayer t-shirt. Bonnibel almost laughed. Rather ironic, if LSP's suspicions were correct, which they clearly weren't.

It was Bonnibel who broke the silence. "You're really good at playing guitar."

"Thanks."

Bonnibel stared into the other girl's crimson eyes for a second, before looking down and fiddling with her fingers. "Uh…I'm going to…" She pointed towards the stairs, quickly making her way down. She was about halfway when Marceline called her.

"Hey, nerd."

Bonnibel paused, and looked in Marceline's direction. "Yes?"

"Tell your friends to keep fucking quiet. It's fucking annoying."

Bonnibel noticed how pissed off Marceline looked, so she nodded and went to walk away, her palms sweating. She felt so awkward and out of place around the usually angry girl.

"And," Marceline started. "If there's going to be any cake, let me know. Maybe I'll crash your little party for five minutes."

Bonnibel nodded a second time and made her way back down the stairs, sitting down on the sofa. She thought for a minute. Did Marceline just scare her? Bonnibel hadn't felt like that around Marceline since she met her.

Finn noticed Bonnibel was acting a little odd, and shuffled up next to her. "Are you okay, Bubblegum?"

She frowned at the blush on his cheeks. Didn't she tell him not to think about her in that way? "I'm fine, Finn."

"What did Marceline do to you?"

"She didn't do anything." Bonnibel insisted, directing her gaze away from the nervous boy next to her and turning to Marshall. "Marceline said she'll have a pepperoni pizza."

"Okay, cool." Marshall nodded, going to put his arm around Fionna, who smacked him away.

Gumball settled down next to Bonnibel. He glanced at Finn, who was busy watching Jake and Lady battle it out at Mario Kart, before leaning down and whispering to her. "I need to talk to you."

"Is it about Marshall?" She murmured back.

He nodded, and she followed him out into the hallway. He shut the door behind them and quickly checked in case anybody was listening, before talking. "It's really bugging me how he's flirting with Fionna. I think she's starting to like it, too."

"Just tell him how you feel, dumbass."

Bonnibel and Gumball both looked up in surprise as Marceline walked down the stairs. Bonnibel frowned. "What're you doing here?"

"Answering the door. Keila's here." Marceline nodded towards the front door, where through the translucent glass Bonnibel could see the faint outline of a person. "But yeah, if you like Marshall just tell him."

"I can't." Gumball mumbled.

"Why not?" Marceline raised her eyebrows as she unlocked the door.

Gumball just stared back at her and didn't respond. Bonnibel shot him a warm smile. "Yeah, why not?"

Gumball frowned at Marceline, before turning back to Bonnibel. "Can we go somewhere else? She scares me."

Marceline snickered as she pulled open the front door. Keila quickly stepped inside and attacked Marceline in a hug. "Hey, Marmalade!"

"Hey." Bonnibel was shocked when Marceline actually _smiled_ at Keila _and_ hugged the older girl back almost as tight. "Do you want me to tell Marsh to order you a pizza?"

"Yeah!" Keila grinned as she finally released Marceline and kicked her shoes off. "Actually, I woke up craving meat feast pizza this morning."

"And I needed to know that because?" Marceline teased, an eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

"Because you're my best friend and that was important information." Keila responded, before she finally laid her hazel eyes on Bonnibel. "Hi!"

Bonnibel frowned. She really didn't expect Keila to talk to her. "Uh…hello."

"Don't bother with her, Keila. She doesn't associate herself with drug addicts like us." Marceline stated. Bonnibel's eyes widened and she looked up, only to see a smirk on Marceline's face. "Chill out, princess. I'm only teasing you."

Keila rolled her eyes. "Marmalade, you're so immature sometimes."

"Where's the fun in being mature?" Marceline challenged.

"True." Keila smiled, before turning her attention back onto Bonnibel. "Thanks for helping me out the other night at the party. I owe you one."

"You really don't owe me anything." Bonnibel assured. "I was just trying to be nice."

Keila smiled at her. "Well, thanks anyways. You're pretty cool. Maybe you could get this one," She nudged Marceline with her elbow, "To stop being such a grouch."

"You're asking me to achieve the impossible?" Bonnibel joked, before she realised what she just said and looked up at Marceline, expecting an angry glare.

Marceline was looking right at her with a playful smirk on her face. "Can't argue with you there, princess." Marceline then directed her gaze to Keila and nodded towards the stairs. "Come on. We have cookies and Disney movies waiting for us."

Keila grinned. "Fuck yeah!" She shot a warm smile to Bonnibel as she headed for the stairs. "It was nice to meet you sober."

Bonnibel smiled. "You too."

Keila got halfway up the stairs before she realised Marceline wasn't following her. "Marmalade, what're you doing?"

"I'll be up in a minute, I just have to ask Marshall to get you your pizza." Marceline replied.

Keila nodded. "Cool. I'll be in your room. Don't kill me if I eat all the cookies."

"If you managed to eat six packets of Oreos and two packets of Chips Ahoy in like two minutes, I'd be pretty impressed." Marceline shouted after Keila as the older girl disappeared up the stairs. "But that's not me giving you permission to eat everything."

Gumball – who had been stood as silent as possible the entire time – finally spoke up. "Why do you want me to tell Marshall how I feel?"

"Because Marshall's a fucking asshole and I think you'd be good for him." Marceline shrugged. "Besides, it's not like you've got anything to lose. You guys aren't really anything more than acquaintances, so it's not like you'd be losing your best friend or anything. Better to get it over with now than to wait until you guys get super close."

Bonnibel was amazed. "That's actually really good advice."

"Glad to know I reached your high standards, princess."

Bonnibel didn't comment on that statement, and instead turned to Gumball. "I agree with Marceline. Wow…that's something I never thought I'd say."

"Don't get sassy." Marceline shot back. "_I'm_ the sass queen."

Bonnibel laughed. "You tell yourself that."

"Fuck off, princess."

Gumball interrupted before the bickering could continue. "I'm not going to tell him. I'm just going to try and get over it. Can we leave now?"

Bonnibel shrugged. "Sure."

Marceline sighed. "Tell Marshall to order Keila a meat feast."

"Tell him yourself." Bonnibel shot back.

"Really?" Marceline rolled her eyes and exhaled. "You're _really_ going to make me be in a room with like ten of the most annoying people in school?"

"Those annoying people are my friends." Bonnibel snapped.

"_Whoa_, princess just got snappy." Marceline sardonically announced as Bonnibel pushed open the living room door.

"Shut up, Marceline." Bonnibel sighed as she went and sat down on the sofa next to Finn. Gumball sat down on her free side, clearly conflicted about what to do about Marshall.

Marceline stayed leaning against the door frame. "Yo, Marsh. Keila's here, she wants a meat feast pizza."

"Cool. Tell her I said hey." Marshall replied.

LSP scoffed from where she was sat. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Marceline raised her eyebrows. "Uh…I live here?"

LSP scoffed again. "Whatever."

Marceline frowned, but rolled her eyes and shook her head, pushing herself from the door frame. "Later, dorks."

With that, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Bonnibel was the only one awake, so she decided to go into the kitchen to get a glass of water.<p>

She was just pulling a glass out of the cupboard when she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"You kept the shirt I gave you?"

She wasn't expecting anyone to be awake; it was past midnight. Typically, Marceline had to be the one to walk in on her when she was wearing nothing but the rock t-shirt Marceline had given her and a pair of skimpy pink pyjama shorts. "Um…yeah. I wear it a lot."

Marceline frowned. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Bonnibel felt a blush rise onto her cheeks. "It's really comfortable."

Marceline showed an inch of a smile, and Bonnibel couldn't help but grin. "You're strange, princess. One minute you don't like me and the next, you're wearing the shirt I gave you."

"I've never not liked you." Bonnibel replied. "I used to be afraid of you, but I didn't dislike you."

"_Used_ to be afraid of me? What did I possibly do to change that?" Marceline hopped up onto the counter and opened a cupboard door, grabbing a box of Pop Tarts.

"I think you're secretly a big teddy bear behind the whole 'I'm going to kill you all' persona." Bonnibel replied. "I'm good at reading people."

Marceline raised a quizzical eyebrow as she put a single Pop Tart in the toaster. "Really?"

"Yes." Bonnibel stated. "I think you're not actually as scary as you seem."

Marceline shrugged. "Well, I guess you'll just have to find that out for yourself."

"Is this an invitation to be friends with you?" Bonnibel teased, walking towards the sink and turning the tap on, filling her cup up with water.

Marceline snickered. "Not in the slightest."

Bonnibel took a sip from her water. "I like you, Marceline."

That took Marceline by surprise. "Wait, _what_?"

"I like you."

"Are you kidding?" Marceline frowned.

"No." Bonnibel took another sip from her drink, frowning at it. "I'd much prefer chamomile tea, but I doubt you have any."

Marceline was too perplexed by how casually Bonnibel had changed the subject to respond. Instead, she reached over and opened another cupboard, throwing a box to Bonnibel. "Here."

Bonnibel read the label. "Chamomile tea? You like this stuff?"

"Nah, it's Simon's. I don't know how you can drink that stuff, it tastes like cat sick." Marceline scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Green tea is better."

"_You_ drink green tea?" Bonnibel frowned as she placed the box on the counter.

"I can be civilised. I don't just live off soda and beer." Marceline shrugged. "I _actually_ live off strawberry milkshakes."

Bonnibel chuckled. "That explains why you always smell like strawberries." She saw Marceline smirk, and her eyes widened. "Not that I sniff you or anything. I'm not weird, I don't…I have no idea how to make that sound any less creepy than it did."

Marceline let out a light hearted laugh. "Yeah, quit while you're ahead."

There was an oddly comfortable silence which was broken by the toaster popping up Marceline's Pop Tart and the dark haired girl nearly falling off the counter. "Fuck, that scared me. Fucking toaster."

Marceline quickly pulled the Pop Tart out and put it on a plate. Bonnibel frowned. "I don't get you."

"What?"

"I don't understand how sometimes we can have such casual conversations like this, and other times you're doing your best to push my buttons." Bonnibel explained.

"It's entertaining to annoy you." Marceline shrugged. "You get pretty irritated really easily."

"I do _not_." Bonnibel scoffed, folding her arms.

"Exhibit A."

Bonnibel scowled, but found it unable to hold and ended up attempting to hide the grin from her face. She decided to change the subject. "Is Keila still here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs. She's hyped up on energy drinks." Marceline replied. "She wants to pull an all-nighter but me being the human embodiment of a fucking sloth is 100% against that. I'll be cranky in the morning."

"You're always cranky." Bonnibel shot back.

"Not _always_." Marceline responded. "Just like…99.9% of the time. Sleep deprivation definitely won't help."

"So what did you and Keila do tonight?" Bonnibel asked.

"Talked, watched dumb movies, ate a little bit too much, played guitar. The usual." Marceline shrugged. "We're playing video games right now."

"What movies did you watch?" Bonnibel persisted.

"Wreck It Ralph, Bolt, Cars and Finding Nemo." Marceline replied. "It was fun."

"I wouldn't imagine you two watching children's films." Bonnibel commented, a small smile on her face.

Marceline shrugged, picking up her plate with the Pop Tart on. "They're good. Anyways, I'm going back upstairs. Have fun with your dork squad."

"They're all asleep." Bonnibel stated as Marceline headed for the door.

Marceline paused. "Oh. Even Marshall? That's surprising. Usually he's still up."

"Yeah, they're all asleep. I thought you'd be, too." Bonnibel shrugged. "Is Simon still out?"

"Yeah, he's spending the night at Betty's."

"Betty?"

"His girlfriend. You know Miss Grof, our English teacher?" Marceline replied. "They've been dating for like two years. It was funny, when he first brought her home we were in freshman year and she saw me and Marshall and the look on her face was hilarious. She was horrified."

"She doesn't like you guys?" Bonnibel frowned.

"Oh, she likes us now." Marceline shrugged. "We were in our rebellious phase at that point in time."

"Ah, I see." Bonnibel nodded.

"Well, I'm going. Night." Marceline pulled open the kitchen door and started making her way back towards the stairs, before she stopped and turned back to Bonnibel, letting out a long sigh. "If you wanted to come with, I guess that wouldn't be _totally_ lame."

Bonnibel's face broke out into a grin. She'd been hoping Marceline would say that. "Yeah, sure."

She followed the dark haired girl upstairs and into her bedroom, where Keila was laid out on Marceline's bed. "Marmalade, you brought company!"

"I did." Marceline nodded. "Be nice."

"I'm always nice." Keila shot back. "You on the other hand -,"

"Yeah, yeah." Marceline waved her off, sitting down next to her on the bed. "Anyways, I'm putting the game back on."

Marceline grabbed a remote control and unpaused Mario Kart which she and Keila had been playing, frowning when she saw she was in last place. Keila smirked. "Guess you're not as good as you thought."

"You fucking played the game while I was downstairs so you could overtake me!" Marceline exclaimed. "Nope, that is _not_ allowed."

Bonnibel watched from the doorway as Marceline leapt onto Keila and grabbed the girl's remote control, throwing it to the other side of the room. Marceline then sat on her until she'd overtaken Keila's character in the game, before she clambered off her and sat back down. Keila jumped up and grabbed her remote, elbowing Marceline as she sat back down. "Bitch."

"Consider us even." Marceline smirked. "You got what you deserved."

"You're mean when we play video games." Keila pouted, resting her head on Marceline's shoulder. "I like normal Marmalade better."

"And I like it when you're not a cheating bitch." Marceline teased.

Bonnibel sat down next to Marceline on the bed, watching the two girls racing each other on the screen. Marceline was first, but Keila was a close second, and the two of them kept bashing into each other and attempting to knock the other off the track. Both of them were swearing at one another and hitting each other whenever they got a chance.

Marceline ended up winning, and Keila fell backwards on the bed and groaned. "Marmalade! You _always_ win."

"That's because I'm fucking awesome." Marceline shrugged, setting her remote down on the floor. "I'm getting pretty tired, so -,"

Keila cut her off. "Nope, don't you wimp out on our all-nighter again."

"But Keila!" Marceline whined. "I'm tired."

Keila scoffed. "You're always tired."

"Fine." Marceline huffed picking up her Pop Tart from her bedside table and taking a bite. "I'll stay awake for like an hour. _Then_ I'm going to sleep."

Keila grinned, wrapping her arms around Marceline's middle. "Thank you. I know I'll find a way to convince you to stay awake."

"Buy me a new guitar and I'll stay awake as long as you want."

"You have like ten guitars. I'll get you a new ukulele. They only cost like $40 at most." Keila replied.

"I don't have _ten_ guitars." Marceline responded, rolling her eyes. "And I found a Fender ukulele for like $80."

"Fender do ukuleles?" Keila frowned.

Marceline nodded. "Yep. I'm actually tempted to buy it but I'm saving up for a new bass."

Keila smiled. "What type?"

"Gibson."

"Awesome." Keila grinned, before turning to Bonnibel. "I'm sorry, this probably makes no sense to you."

"It really doesn't." Bonnibel chuckled. "But I don't mind. You guys talk about what you want."

Keila shook her head. "Nah. I think Marmalade and I should get to know you."

Marceline and Keila exchanged a glance, and then in perfect synchronisation, the two looked straight at Bonnibel and nodded. "Twenty questions." They both stated.

Keila shot Bonnibel a warm smile. "How long have you lived here?"

"Um…around a month now." Bonnibel responded.

"Where'd you move from?" Marceline asked, an eyebrow raised.

"New York."

"Hey, we've been there!" Keila exclaimed, looking at Marceline with a grin. "We went to go shopping and go to a gig and we got lost."

"We got the wrong train on the subway and ended up on the wrong side of the city, and then Keila tried figuring out where we were and so she suggested we walk -," Marceline continued, biting back a laugh.

"And I ended up walking us out of New York City and into some random town and we were both super confused and eventually we had to call my uncle who we were staying with to come and get us." Keila explained.

Marceline raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Really? Let's not forget that _someone_ started crying and thought we were going to die on the streets and tried to get me to call the cops."

Keila smacked Marceline's upper arm and laughed. "Shut up! You were worried too."

"You didn't see me being all," Marceline placed a hand on her heart and dramatically looked into the distance, "Oh no, we're going to die, if you survive and I die then tell my parents I love them!"

Keila blushed and looked anywhere but Marceline. "I didn't say _all_ of that."

Marceline laughed, a real laugh that was music to Bonnibel's ears. Bonnibel bit back a smile at both the story and at how happy Marceline was. "Yeah, you did! You were getting overly emotional and I was just there like what the fuck is happening? Let's not forget that _you're_ the older one so _you_ were supposed to be the one holding it together."

"It was a traumatic experience!" Keila defended. "_And _it was winter and I forgot my coat. I could've got hypothermia."

"So that's your excuse for being a giant wimp?" Marceline questioned, laughing.

"Yes." Keila crossed her arms and shot Marceline a sharp nod.

"Wow." Marceline bit her lip and leant back on the bed, laying down and resting her head on the pillow. "_Anyways_, princess."

"Stop calling me princess." Bonnibel sighed, although she couldn't hide the small smile on her face.

"Think of it as a loving nickname that represents the joy I feel every time your name is so much as mentioned." Marceline sarcastically shot back.

"I'd appreciate a little less sarcasm." Bonnibel replied. "And I'd rather you called me Bonnibel."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Fine, _Bonnibel_. What's your favourite colour?"

"Such a creative question, Marmalade." Keila teased.

"Shut up, wimp." Marceline replied, turning back to Bonnibel. "Let me guess, your favourite colour is pink."

Bonnibel nodded. "Yes. And yours is black."

"Incorrect." Marceline stated. "My favourite colour is red."

"That's actually surprising." Bonnibel commented.

Keila laughed. "I know, right. She literally wears black every day."

"Only black jeans." Marceline defended. "I don't wear all black every day. Mostly just black and grey."

"You're so colourful." Bonnibel teased.

"I tried to make her wear a purple dress but she refused because it wasn't 'punk rock' enough." Keila laughed.

"That was _two_ years ago." Marceline exclaimed. "You can't bring that up!"

"You brought up my New York fiasco." Keila shot back. "I'm just returning the favour."

"Bitch." Marceline cursed. "I'm leaving the band if you don't stop."

Keila rolled her eyes and looked to Bonnibel. "Singers, eh?"

"Yo, I could make a band and play everything all by myself."

"Except for drums."

"We don't talk about my lack of drumming talent."

"We do now."

Marceline laughed. "Shut up."

Keila smiled, before her eyes widened and she stood up. "We should go explore. You know, like we did that one time a few years back."

"I guess. It's not like we're in pyjamas or anything." Marceline shrugged. "Yeah, let's go for a walk."

Bonnibel looked down at her pyjamas, and had decided she'd sit this walk out when Marceline threw a pair of skinny jeans at her. They weren't black, which Bonnibel was thankful for. "You want me to come?"

"I guess. Why not?" Marceline shrugged.

Keila smiled. "Aw, look at you being nice."

"Fuck off, Keila."

"Oh, but you'd miss me."

"True."

"You two are cute." Bonnibel smiled.

Keila grinned. "When she's not being a grump, she's actually cool."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "I'm not grumpy that often. Just at school and around annoying people."

"Is that you indirectly calling me annoying?" Bonnibel questioned. "Considering you're always grumpy when I try to talk to you."

"If you were annoying me, I'd tell you." Marceline shrugged. "Or I'd just punch you."

"Marmalade, you couldn't throw a punch to save your life." Keila laughed. "Unless you're angry."

Bonnibel grinned in triumph. "I knew you were secretly a big marshmallow."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just go. I'm not feeling how much of a stupid heart to heart this is becoming."

"You're capable of having heartfelt conversations?" Bonnibel mock gasped. "I never would've guessed."

Keila laughed. "Nice."

Marceline sighed. "Princess is attempting to sass up the sass queen. That won't work. I will release the kraken if you don't stop."

"Remember when we went to the park and went on that little boat ride on the river and you were just yelling to release the kraken the entire time?" Keila laughed. "And there were loads of old couples wondering what you were on."

"I was on everything." Marceline joked. "According to Bonnibel over here I'm a drug addict."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Bonnibel sighed. "I apologised! I judged you without knowing you and I'm sorry."

"Chill, dude," Marceline laughed. "I'm just messing with you."

Keila smiled. "Aw, you guys are bonding."

"We aren't." Marceline shot back. "I'm only being civil."

"You like her, Marmalade." Keila grinned. "I can tell. I know you better than anyone."

"I tolerate her."

"You like her." Keila teased, playfully nudging Marceline in the ribs with her elbow.

Bonnibel smiled. "I like her, but she's just being stubborn."

"Whatever, fine." Marceline huffed. "You're not _that_ horrible to be around, okay? _God_."

Bonnibel grinned. She high-fived Keila, and then proceeded to wrap her arms around Marceline in a hug. Bonnibel buried her face into Marceline's shoulder, inhaling the strawberry scent. "Can we be friends, then?"

"I'll have to think about that one." Marceline stated. Bonnibel gave Marceline's rigid body one last squeeze before letting go.

"Okay." Bonnibel nodded, looking at the jeans on her lap. "Can I go somewhere to put these on?"

Marceline nodded. "Yeah. Bathroom. You know where it is."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks."

She stood from the soft bed, walking towards the door, when Marceline stopped her. "Wait. You didn't ask why."

Bonnibel frowned. "Why, what?"

"Why I have to think about being friends with you."

"Well, we're not friends. You don't trust me, therefore you won't tell me." Bonnibel shrugged. "It's not that hard to figure out that you probably only trust Keila."

Marceline stared at Bonnibel with a calculating look, before finally nodding. "You actually _are_ good at reading people."

"Thanks." Bonnibel smiled, before slipping out of the door and into the bathroom, turning the lights on.

She stared at the jeans. They were blue; a colour of clothing Bonnibel didn't expect Marceline to own. They were also super skinny jeans. Bonnibel had struggles getting her own jeans on, and they weren't even that tight compared to the jeans Marceline wore. Bonnibel took her time thinking of a method to get them on, eventually settling on sitting on the edge of the bath and pulling until they were nearly up to her hips, and then standing and jumping up until they were finally on. Bonnibel quickly did the button up and then made her way back into Marceline's room, where Marceline and Keila were in mid-conversation about bands they liked.

"No way, man. We Are The In Crowd are _much_ better than VersaEmerge." Marceline stated. "The whole male/female vocal dynamic is rad."

"You're just saying that because you have a crush on like three people in We Are The In Crowd." Keila exclaimed, shooting a smile at Bonnibel as she walked back in the room.

"I do _not_. I only have like a tiny crush on Cameron."

"And Jordan." Keila stated. "Let's not forget about the Tay Jardine drunken rant you had."

"Tay is pretty fucking hot, not going to lie." Marceline shrugged. Bonnibel frowned. Marceline liked girls?

"Exactly, so you're biased. Debate over." Keila concluded, standing up. "Let's roll."

Marceline groaned. "Fine. Where are you planning to take us to on this midnight stroll?"

"Wherever. We could go to McDonald's." Keila suggested.

Marceline grinned. "Fuck yeah. I'm bringing cash. We're not going to the store, though."

Keila frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, I went to the store the other day to pick up milk for Simon and I go to pay and guess who the new fucking cashier is." Marceline began. "Ash."

"He didn't talk to you, did he?" Keila frowned.

"Yeah. I had to go home and take a shower because I felt so gross."

Bonnibel frowned. "Who's Ash?"

"My ex." Marceline stated. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Is he the one that was nineteen?" Bonnibel asked.

Marceline glared at her, and Bonnibel gulped when she realised just how angry Marceline actually was. "What do you know about that?"

"My friends just told me that you dated someone that was nineteen." Bonnibel held her hands up in defence.

"Your friends are fucking idiots."

"Okay." Bonnibel responded. "I'm not going to argue in case you hit me."

"I wouldn't hurt you." Marceline murmured, just loud enough for Bonnibel to catch it.

Keila noticed the tension in the room and put an arm around Marceline's shoulders. "_Anyways_, let's go."

"I'm taking my skateboard." Marceline stated.

Keila pouted. "We're going for a _walk_. The whole point is that you don't use any vehicles."

"I wouldn't call a skateboard a vehicle." Marceline smirked in amusement.

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Keila rolled her eyes. "Why do you need to take your skateboard anyways?"

"Because I'm too fucking lazy to walk."

"Fine, you can take your skateboard." Keila allowed.

"Thanks, Mom." Marceline mock saluted Keila, pushing past her and heading down the stairs.

Keila swiftly walked over to Bonnibel and shot her a warm smile. "I'm sorry about her. Certain things set her off, just try not to mention her ex around her and you're good."

"Anything else I should know of?" Bonnibel asked.

"Not that I can think of from the top of my head. I'll let you know." Keila smiled, before grabbing onto Bonnibel's wrist. "Come on, I want to go for our walk. Also, don't get offended when she's all sarcastic. That's just her sense of humour."

"I figured." Bonnibel replied as Keila pulled her down the stairs.

Both Keila and Bonnibel quickly found their shoes and pulled them on, and then Keila beckoned Bonnibel towards the kitchen in the hope that Marceline – who had disappeared – would be in there. She wasn't.

They eventually found her in the living room, leaning over Marshall. Keila cleared her throat to get Marceline's attention. Schwabl – who had come down earlier that evening and had been fussed over by all of Bonnibel's friends – let out a half-hearted growl from where he was laid in his basket.

Marceline looked up sheepishly, a pen in hand. "I couldn't resist. It was too easy."

Keila walked over and took one look at Marshall, letting out a snort of laughter when she realised Marceline had taken the opportunity to draw the classic glasses and moustache on her brother's face. Keila gave Marceline a high five, taking the pen from the other girl's hand. "I'm going to take this before this spirals out of control and you end up drawing on everyone here."

"Can I draw on her?" Marceline nodded towards LSP.

Keila bit on her lip in thought, before finally nodding and holding out the pen in Marceline's direction. "Fine, but make it quick."

Marceline grinned. "Rad."

Bonnibel held back laughter. "She'll kill you."

"Her?" Marceline laughed. "Yeah, right. Besides, I'll just put the blame on someone else."

"Who?"

Marceline looked around the room, nodding at Finn. "Maybe him."

"Come on, Finn's a sweet kid." Bonnibel argued. "Why not blame it on Marshall?"

"Yeah, he drew on his own face." Marceline rolled her eyes, before putting the pen back where she'd found it. "Anyways, let's get out of here."

The three of them quickly slipped out of the room and into the hallway, where Marceline had left her skateboard. She threw Keila the house keys. "Here. I have to put my shoes on, unlock the door for me."

Keila nodded, and Marceline grabbed a pair of black Vans and pulled them on. Then, she picked up her skateboard and walked outside, where Keila and Bonnibel were waiting for her. She locked the front door, and then the three of them walked down the driveway and into the cold night. The second they were on the sidewalk, Marceline threw her skateboard down and jumped on. She kept slow next to Keila and Bonnibel.

Bonnibel immediately started shivering. She internally smacked herself when she realised she'd forgotten her jacket.

"Are you cold?" Keila frowned.

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah, I forgot my coat."

Marceline slipped hers off and passed it to Bonnibel. "Here. I have a hoodie, I'll be fine."

Bonnibel frowned at Marceline's random act of kindness, slipping the coat on. "Thanks."

Bonnibel then turned to her other companion. She had decided to get to know Keila. Although Bonnibel's initial impression was that Keila was a lazy alcoholic, she had realised that she was quick to judge the older girl and that Keila was actually a really nice person.

"When did you graduate from school?"

"Last June." Keila stated. "I actually kind of miss it, but I've got a pretty sweet gig down at the music store. I like working there and the pay is pretty good, even though I'm still waiting on Marmalade to write a hit single."

"Marceline writes your band's songs?" Bonnibel asked, an amazed smile across her face.

"Yep, she's the genius behind it all." Keila grinned. "Well, she's the genius, period."

Bonnibel turned to Marceline. "You write lyrics _and_ music?"

Marceline – who was quietly skating alongside them – nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes Keila helps."

"Only with the music." Keila pitched in. "I can't write lyrics but then Marmalade shows up with full songs with all these metaphors and stuff in. It's pretty awesome."

Marceline shrugged. "I just write whatever comes to mind and then make it better later."

"That's really cool." Bonnibel smiled. "You're really interesting, Marceline."

"I'm really not." Marceline insisted. "You just think that because it's something you haven't learned how to do. Like how I don't know how to be a badass mad scientist like you."

Bonnibel was shocked by the compliment, and didn't have time to thank Marceline before Keila jumped back into the conversation. "You're a scientist? That's cool."

"It's not. Certain things interest me, like the laws of physics." Bonnibel shrugged. "I enjoy exploring different variables and their effects and reading up on different theories. It's just interesting to me."

"I actually didn't hate science in school." Keila commented. "I mean, it wasn't my favourite thing, but I could bear it."

Marceline shrugged. "I just take a nap in class and then use my puppy dog eyes to get Simon to do the work for me."

"Isn't that some form of cheating?" Bonnibel frowned.

"Probably." Marceline shrugged. "All of the sciences are my lowest grades and I don't really care, to be honest."

"I'll tutor you if you're failing." Bonnibel offered.

Marceline raised her eyebrows, kicking her foot against the ground to speed her skateboard up. "Did I say I was failing?"

"What're you getting?"

"Bs."

"Really?"

"I'm actually kind of offended by how shocked you sound." Marceline stated.

"A B is your lowest grade?" Bonnibel asked in amazement.

"Yeah. Bs in science and math, As in everything else." Marceline shrugged.

Bonnibel's eyes widened. "Wow. I didn't expect that."

"Like I said, she's the genius." Keila smiled. "So I take it you want to be a scientist when you're older?"

"Something in science, yes." Bonnibel nodded. "Recently I've been leaning towards becoming a doctor."

"That's pretty hardcore." Marceline said.

"It is?"

"Yeah." Marceline nodded. "Doctors literally bring people back from the dead sometimes."

Bonnibel shrugged. "I don't know. I've always thought about being a doctor but there are other things I'd like to do too. What about you guys? What do you want to do when you're older?"

They exchanged glances. Keila grinned. "I think I speak for the both of us when I say music."

Marceline nodded. "Yeah. If it's not playing it, I want to write and produce it."

"Creative." Bonnibel commented. She could really picture Marceline doing that.

Marceline just shrugged and continued skating alongside her. Keila pulled her phone out. "I'm going to tweet about our adventure."

"Keila, nobody cares." Marceline teased.

"You _always_ tweet me back."

"Because you'd look like a fucking loner if I didn't."

"Sometimes you tweet me first."

"Somebody has to laugh at your dumb jokes."

Keila typed out some random tweet and then put her phone on camera, directing it towards herself and Bonnibel. "Marmalade, get over here!"

Marceline laughed, skating faster. "Catch me."

Keila shot off down the road after Marceline, shouting. "Get back here!"

Marceline skated around Keila in a circle before heading further down the road. "Nope."

"Marmalade!" Keila huffed, chasing after her until the two were merely specks to Bonnibel.

The pink haired girl felt uncomfortable. Should she follow them, or just wait for them to come back? Maybe they'd meant to ditch her all along. Bonnibel stood in the cold for what felt to her like hours, but was in fact only a minute or two when she saw what looked to be Marceline skating towards her. When she squinted, she realised it was both Marceline and Keila on Marceline's skateboard. Bonnibel tried to hold back laughter when the two dramatically skated past her posed like Jack and Rose from _Titanic – _Keila with her arms around Marceline's middle and Marceline with her arms outstretched – playing 'My Heart Will Go On' from one of their phones. Keila jumped off when they got to Bonnibel, and Marceline stopped her skateboard and bit on her lip.

Bonnibel smiled. "You two are hilarious."

Keila pretended to brush something off her shoulders. "Well, if you say so."

Marceline rolled her eyes and flicked her skateboard up with her foot, catching it with her left hand. "Are we going to McDonald's or what?"

"Yeah. If you want, I can just go in and order for us all." Keila offered.

Marceline shrugged. "The less interaction with other people the better. Sure."

"You're so antisocial." Bonnibel commented.

"I'd say the same to you. Marshall was complaining about how you never leave the house." Marceline shrugged. "Don't be so hypocritical, _princess_."

"Sorry, _Marcy_."

"Fuck you."

"You say that at least once every time we talk." Bonnibel pointed out.

"In case you didn't notice, fuck is my favourite word." Marceline shrugged. "It's a good word to use because you can fucking put it anywhere in a fucking sentence and it still makes fucking sense."

Bonnibel frowned. "It's not ladylike to swear."

"Ladylike my ass."

"Neither is that." Bonnibel added.

Marceline gritted her teeth. "I really want to strangle you sometimes."

Bonnibel gulped. "Sorry."

Marceline noticed how scared Bonnibel looked at dropped the glare she was aiming at her. "Whoa, chill. I wouldn't. You know that."

Bonnibel nodded. "Sometimes I forget when you're threatening my life."

"I don't appreciate the sass."

Keila jumped in the middle of the two and threw an arm around Marceline's shoulder, quickly bringing her camera up and snapping a photo before both Marceline and Bonnibel could register what was happening. "I got you!"

Marceline sighed. "God dammit."

Keila grinned. "I win."

"For once." Marceline added.

"Shut up."

"No."

"Yes." Keila stated. "I'm older so you have to do what I say."

"You're acting like a five year old." Marceline rolled her eyes, turning to Bonnibel. "This is what I have to deal with on a daily basis. Pity me."

Keila gently shoved Marceline. "You're no picnic either."

The conversation all the way to McDonald's was mostly just friendly bickering between Marceline and Keila, Bonnibel occasionally pitching in to back up a point one of them was making. She was surprised how comfortable the two of them were making her feel. She did feel a little tense when Keila left her alone with Marceline to go buy the three of them some fries.

Marceline and Bonnibel were stood in an uncomfortable silence until Marceline finally spoke up. "Hey, you should try skateboarding."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnibel stated. "I might fall and ruin your jeans."

"I never wear those anyway." Marceline shrugged. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I don't want to hurt myself."

"I won't let that happen." Marceline assured. "It's like 1AM, we have an empty parking lot. You'll be fine, dude."

Bonnibel let out a long sigh. "Fine, but only for five minutes."

Marceline nodded. "Cool."

Marceline carried her skateboard over to a clear space in the parking lot, setting it down. Bonnibel stared apprehensively. "I'm not sure about this."

"Get on." Marceline rolled her eyes, and Bonnibel quickly did as she said.

The skateboard lurched forwards and Bonnibel let out a yelp and shut her eyes, expecting the next thing to happen to be her colliding with the ground. Instead, she felt a pair of strong arms hold her up. "Geez, Bonnibel. Try not to fall off before you've even started going."

"It moved!" Bonnibel defended.

"It moved a fucking millimetre."

"If we're going to do this, please stop swearing. It's making me rather anxious." Bonnibel mumbled.

Marceline huffed, her breath coming out in a puff of smoke in the cold air. "Fine. Use one of your feet to get going and push yourself."

Bonnibel frowned and looked into Marceline's eyes, now level with her own due to the extra height of the skateboard. "I don't know about this."

"You'll be fine, I promise." Marceline assured.

"Will you hold my hand?"

"Oh my fucking God." Marceline cursed and slapped a hand to her face, staring at Bonnibel through her fingers. "What are you, three?"

"Please?" Bonnibel asked. "I swear this thing is a deathtrap."

Marceline grabbed hold of Bonnibel's upper arm. "I won't hold your fucking hand. This is as much as you're getting."

Bonnibel nodded. "Thank you."

"Now kick off from the ground."

Bonnibel did as Marceline said, nearly toppling off the board. She was grateful for the other girl holding onto the coat she was wearing, because Bonnibel would definitely have fallen off by now. "Thanks for holding onto me."

"Get sappy and I'll let go."

"I bet you secretly love it." Bonnibel teased.

Marceline let go of Bonnibel's arm, and the shorter girl let out a yelp as she lost her balance and nearly fell off the board. Marceline caught her. "I wouldn't tease the girl helping you not get a scraped knee if I were you."

Bonnibel could feel her heart beating ten times as fast. "That was terrifying. I thought you were going to let me fall."

"You want to know a secret?" Marceline questioned. "I don't hurt people unless they're serious assholes. You're not on that list."

Bonnibel smiled. "So you wouldn't hurt me?"

"Nope, but don't go spreading that around. I don't need your friends annoying the fuck out of me like you seem to enjoy doing." Marceline said. "Now get off my skateboard."

Bonnibel stepped off the board, relieved. "Thanks, Marceline. You're really sweet, even if you don't want people to think you are."

"Fuck, I can't even threaten to punch you now."

Bonnibel smiled. "They were empty threats anyway."

Keila came back and passed Bonnibel and Marceline some medium fries. "Don't worry about paying me back, guys. My gift to you for a kickass evening."

"Being your best friend has its pros." Marceline grinned, grabbing a handful of fries.

Keila shrugged. "I know, I'm awesome."

Bonnibel smiled at the older girl. "Thanks for this, Keila."

"No problem, dude. You're pretty rad." Keila grinned back.

"I've never been called rad before." Bonnibel commented.

"I can tell." Marceline mumbled through a mouthful of fries.

"_Marmalade_." Keila scolded. "Be nice to my new friend."

"Whatever."

The walk back to Marceline's house was mostly filled with a comfortable silence between the three, something Bonnibel never thought she'd experience around Marceline. She watched Marceline a lot on the way back, the way she silently watched as the world went by, the way her black hair cascaded down her back in a soft wave, and the way she didn't seem to have a care in the world. It was enthralling how Marceline could be so mysterious.

When they got back to Marceline's house, Keila headed straight upstairs and flopped down on Marceline's bed, finally tired out. Bonnibel went into the bathroom and quickly stripped from the jeans she was wearing to reveal her pyjama shorts underneath, and stopped Marceline before she disappeared into her room. "Hey, wait. I wanted to give you these back."

Marceline took the jeans. "Thanks."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks for tonight, by the way. I had fun."

"Same. You're weirdly good company." Marceline stated. "But we're still not friends."

"I figured." Bonnibel replied. "Let me know when you want to be, though."

"Who says I'll want to be your friend?"

"Fine. _If _you want to be." Bonnibel corrected herself. "Have a good night, Marceline."

Bonnibel turned and headed for the stairs, not expecting Marceline to respond.

"You too, nerd."


	12. Chapter 12

**the song used later in this chapter is 'thanks to you' by all time low**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Saturday 15<strong>**th**** February 2014.**

Marceline had heard through Marshall that Bonnibel's friends were throwing a party.

She didn't know why she decided to go to the party the nerds were throwing. She told herself it was just to make fun of how stupid it was, but she knew there was another reason.

Bonnibel.

She wanted to hate the excitable, bubbly pink-haired girl, but she just couldn't. For some stupid reason, she actually _liked_ Bonnibel's company.

And that terrified her.

She eventually found the pink-haired dork after asking her friends, whose names she always got muddled up. She had a habit of referring to people with nicknames she gave them in her head. The boy who always wore the bear hat, who Marceline had creatively nicknamed 'Hatboy' refused to tell her if Bonnibel was even at the party. Thankfully, Bonnibel's other friend who always had one item of rainbow clothing on – Marceline had nicknamed her 'Rainbow' – pulled her away from Finn and told her that Bonnibel was definitely at the party and should be around somewhere.

Marceline didn't have to look far. She was making her way through the hallway of whoever's house she was in, and she felt someone grab hold of her from behind, their arms snaking around her middle. She turned with a frown on her face, only to see Bonnibel smiling up at her. Marceline frowned even more. Something was off about her.

She knew the second Bonnibel let go of her and nearly toppled over.

Bonnibel was drunk.

"Hey, Marceline!" Bonnibel slurred, drawing out each vowel in the sentence.

Marceline quickly caught Bonnibel as she staggered even closer to her. "You're drunk."

Bonnibel scoffed. "Psh. I only had like…six beers? I'm not drunk."

"My point exactly. You're really fucking drunk." Marceline observed as Bonnibel staggered around.

Bonnibel smiled and took a few attempts at grabbing hold of Marceline's arm. It took her a while before she finally linked arms with Marceline and stepped as close to the dark haired girl as she could, wobbling about a little on the spot. "I'm glad you came."

"Yeah, me too. I need to get you out of here." Marceline stated, attempting to walk Bonnibel down the hallway they were in.

Bonnibel was being difficult. She stopped walking and held onto Marceline, pouting. "Why? You said we're not friends."

"Well, we are." Marceline stated. "Just don't remember that when you're sober."

Bonnibel grinned and held her hands up in the air, nearly falling backwards. Marceline quickly caught her. "Yay. Marcy's my friend."

"What did I say about that nickname?"

Bonnibel pouted. "It's cute."

Marceline just rolled her eyes and slowly escorted Bonnibel towards the front door, running into the friend from before. The girl frowned. "Is Bubblegum drunk?"

Marceline raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Bonnibel smiled, and tried to give her friend a hug. "Lady! This is a great party."

_Lady,_ Marceline thought, _I should remember that. _"Look, I'm going to get her home."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Her parents don't seem the type to approve of underage drinking." Lady explained.

"Fine, I'll just take her somewhere quiet." Marceline stated, looking towards the drunk girl hanging from her arm.

Lady frowned. "I _really_ don't think that's a good idea."

"So you want her to stay here and get even _more_ drunk? I even think I saw that Ricardio dude walking around. I'm getting her out of here." Marceline explained. "I won't take her home. I'll take her back to my place."

Lady eyed her sceptically. "I don't think she'd like it if I let her go with you."

"Dude, I won't fucking eat her or anything. If it makes you feel any better, Simon is home. You have a witness." Marceline argued as Bonnibel played with her dark hair.

"Simon?"

"Mr Petrikov, whatever you want to call him."

"You live with him?"

"Since I was 7, yeah." Marceline stated. "Anyway, off topic. I'm getting her out of here."

Lady sighed in defeat. "Fine. Just promise me you'll take care of her."

"I promise." Marceline assured.

Bonnibel grabbed Marceline's left hand and began fiddling with it. "Your hand is warm."

Marceline found it hard not to laugh at the drunken girl clinging onto her, helping her out of the door. Bonnibel nearly tripped numerous times on the walk to Marceline's car, and getting her to sit down was an even harder task.

In all honesty, Marceline couldn't believe that Bonnibel of all people was drunk.

Bonnibel kept trying to play with all of the buttons in the car and move things about on the drive back to Marceline's house, and Marceline was seriously considering tying her hands down. Eventually, Marceline got Bonnibel to calm down by putting an Ed Sheeran CD on. Bonnibel sat with her head against the window and an odd smile on her face for most of the ride. Occasionally, she reached over and grabbed Marceline's hand, giggled, and let go again.

Marceline successfully managed to get Bonnibel into the house in good time, saying hello to Simon and Betty who were in the living room watching a movie.

She tried keeping Bonnibel hidden, but typically, she shouted "Hi, Simon," at the top of her lungs and caught his attention.

"Is that Bonnibel out there?"

"Yeah, she got totally hammered and so I got her out of the party." Marceline shrugged. "I don't think she's ever been drunk before."

Betty frowned. "Bonnibel Bubblegum? From your English class?"

"Yup." Marceline nodded.

"Hm. I wouldn't have thought you two would be friends."

Marceline shrugged, looking towards an excitable Bonnibel who had taken to examining all of the shoes left by the doorway. "Yeah, she's pretty cool."

Simon grinned. "I knew you liked her."

"Shut up." Marceline rolled her eyes, biting back a grin. "I'm going to take her upstairs and make her get some sleep."

"Get her a glass of water and an ibuprofen or something." Betty advised.

Marceline nodded. "I'm on it."

Marceline made her way back over to Bonnibel, who grinned. "Marcy," She slurred, "Why are we here?"

"Your friend told me your parents wouldn't like it if you were drunk, and I didn't want you to get in any trouble." Marceline explained, putting an arm around Bonnibel as she walked her up the stairs.

Bonnibel smiled lazily. "You're sweet."

"Thanks." Marceline frowned, as she kicked her bedroom door open and helped Bonnibel towards the bed. "I think."

Bonnibel flopped down onto Marceline's bed, grabbing something from under the covers. Marceline froze. Bonnibel was holding onto Hambo.

Marceline gulped. "That's not mine, I'm just holding it for a friend."

Bonnibel cackled. "Marcy has a teddy bear."

Marceline pried Hambo from Bonnibel's grip and placed him on her dresser. "No, I don't. I'm going to go get you a glass of water, and I want you to drink it before you sleep, okay?"

Bonnibel nodded, grabbing hold of Marceline's hand and smiling. "You're the best, Marceline. I like you. Let's talk and gossip and tell each other secrets. Isn't that what friends do?"

"Yeah...no. Not when you're in this state, Bonnie."

"Bonnie?"

Marceline blushed and bit her lip. "Yeah. Bonnie."

"I like it. The girl I used to like called me that. She hates me because I'm gay."

Marceline frowned. "You're gay?"

Bonnibel's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously, her pink locks falling in her eyes. "No. Well, I am, but you're not supposed to know that."

"Chill out, Bonnie. I'm going to get you a glass of water, and then I'll be back."

"Promise you'll come back?" Bonnibel pleaded.

"I promise." Marceline assured as she slipped out of the door and jogged downstairs.

She filled up a glass of water for Bonnibel, heading back upstairs where she found Bonnibel plucking the strings on her bass. Bonnibel smiled when Marceline walked in the room. "Look, I'm a musician!"

Marceline sighed, holding back the amused grin that was fighting to be seen. "Come here."

Bonnibel staggered over to the bed, flopping down on the soft surface. She sat up, and Marceline passed her the glass of water. "Drink that. It'll cushion the blow of the huge ass hangover you'll have."

Bonnibel obediently drank the water, passing the empty cup back to Marceline, nearly dropping it as she did. "Thanks."

Marceline examined Bonnibel. She was clothed in a rather frilly pink dress with a pink cardigan on top of it. Marceline sighed. She couldn't put her in bed like that. She dug around in her drawers, finding a pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt advertising a band she didn't even like that much anymore. She passed them to Bonnibel. "Here. Wear these and then get into bed and go to sleep."

Bonnibel nodded and fumbled about trying to find the zipper on her dress which was hidden underneath her cardigan. Eventually, Marceline got tired of watching Bonnibel and stood up, assisting the girl in taking her cardigan off and unzipping the dress. Then, Marceline looked away as Bonnibel changed into the pyjamas, and stayed facing away from Bonnibel until she heard a small thud.

She turned to see that Bonnibel had fallen on the floor with the sweatpants halfway up her legs. The pink haired girl giggled. "Oops."

Marceline rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh, leaning down and helping Bonnibel to her feet. Bonnibel managed to pull up the sweatpants and manoeuvre her way into Marceline's bed, resting her head down on the pillow.

Marceline was about to leave the room, when she heard a small mumble from Bonnibel. "Marceline."

Marceline turned. "Yeah?"

"Stay with me." Bonnibel murmured.

Marceline froze. "Uh…I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Bonnibel pouted.

"I don't think you'd want me to if you were sober."

"I would. Besides, I'm _completely_ sober." Bonnibel slurred, shuffling over in Marceline's bed and lazily patting the spot next to her. "Please?"

Marceline sighed. "Fine."

She quickly changed into her pyjamas – completely aware of Bonnibel watching her the entire time – and tentatively climbed into her bed. Bonnibel smiled, grabbing hold of Marceline's hand and playing with her fingers. "Thank you."

"Uh…you're welcome, I guess."

Bonnibel shuffled closer to Marceline and smiled, burying her head into Marceline's neck. "You smell good. I sniff your shirt when I go to sleep sometimes."

Marceline couldn't help but let out a snicker at that. "Why, exactly?"

"Because it smells like you." Bonnibel breathed. "I like it."

"You _really_ need to sleep off the alcohol." Marceline said. "You're saying weird things."

"Okay." Bonnibel yawned and wriggled closer to Marceline. "Night."

Marceline awkwardly put an arm around Bonnibel. "Goodnight."

It wasn't long before Bonnibel was letting out soft little snores, and Marceline stealthily shuffled away from Bonnibel and climbed out of the bed. As much as she'd love to see the horror on Bonnibel's face waking up next to her, she decided she'd just let Bonnibel get a peaceful night's sleep.

Marceline grabbed Bonnibel's clothes which were strewn about on the floor and attempted to fold them into a neat pile, placing them on the desk chair she usually used as a dumping ground for worn clothes. Bonnibel's phone fell out of the pocket in the cardigan, and Marceline decided it'd probably be a good idea to text Bonnibel's parents and let them know where she was. Luckily, Bonnibel didn't have a password for her phone, and Marceline easily found the text conversation with Bonnibel's Mom. Mirroring Bonnibel's texting style, she typed out a message.

_I'm staying over at a friend's house tonight. See you tomorrow._

Then, she locked Bonnibel's phone and placed it on the bedside table.

Marceline checked the time on her own phone. 10PM. Might as well get an early night.

She grabbed Hambo from her dresser and picked up her bass in her other hand, heading into the guest bedroom and sitting down on the cold sheets. She set Hambo on the pillow, pulling her bass onto her lap and plucking a few notes. Marceline let out a long sigh, falling back on the soft surface of the bed. She decided she wasn't in the mood to play bass, so she leant her guitar against the wall and snuggled under the blankets of the bed, cuddling Hambo close to her chest. She shut her eyes, and the last thing that went through her mind was of the pink-haired girl that was currently asleep in her bed.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Sunday 16<strong>**th**** February 2014.**

Bonnibel woke up with Marceline's scent surrounding her and a pounding headache.

Her focus was first on the blunt throbbing in her head. It was the first thing she could register as she woke up in a groggy, jumbled mess. She put a hand to her head and blinked hard, before she realised where she was.

Why the hell was she in Marceline's room?

She looked over to the alarm clock on the bedside table that was incredibly dusty and looked like it hadn't been touched in years. 12:36PM. Bonnibel frowned. She _never_ slept in this late.

She desperately tried to remember what could have happened the night before, but all she could conjure up were dream-like, hazy memories of her grabbing several different bottles of beer.

She really hoped she hadn't said or done anything stupid, especially around Marceline. She'd _never_ live that down.

The space in the bed beside her was cold and didn't look like it had been slept on. Bonnibel frowned. If she was here, where had Marceline gone? Bonnibel hoped that she hadn't kicked Marceline out of her own bed.

She finally sat up and stretched, ignoring the pounding in her head. She looked towards the door, which was half open. Should she go downstairs?

She didn't have to.

Marceline popped her head around the door to see an awake – albeit dazed and groggy – Bonnibel sat up in her bed. "Good, you're up."

Bonnibel frowned. "Marceline? What happened?" Marceline didn't have chance to reply, as Bonnibel was already freaking out. "Oh, God! My parents! They're going to be really worried about me."

"Chillax, dude. I sent a text to your folks last night when you were passed out."

"I passed out?" Bonnibel exclaimed, eyes widening. "What was I doing?"

"I'll tell you the full story once you drink this water and take this." Marceline said, producing a glass of water and an aspirin from behind her back as she walked into the room. The dark haired girl sat on the bed beside Bonnibel, passing the glass over.

Bonnibel gratefully took the pill and downed the water, placing the empty glass on the bedside table. She picked up her phone and unlocked it onto a text conversation with her Mom. She smirked when she read the text Marceline sent. "Spending the night at a friend's, huh?"

"Yeah," Bonnibel was amazed Marceline didn't argue, "Anyways, you want to know what you did or would you rather forget?"

"I want to know," Bonnibel stated, "Unless it's completely stupid and I'll want to crawl in a ditch and die of embarrassment later."

"You weren't _that_ bad." Marceline said. "I actually think drunk Bonnie is pretty rad."

"Bonnie?"

"Fuck." Marceline cursed, looking down at her feet, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. "Yeah, that's what I call you in my head. Nickname. I usually give people dumb nicknames -," She cut herself off. "Anyways, you don't need to know this."

Bonnibel found Marceline's awkward rambling rather cute. "I like it. It's better than princess. Call me it more often."

"Princess was the original nickname." Marceline admitted. "But when I started to like you it changed to Bonnie. _Anyway_, back to your drunken mishaps,"

"Whoa, whoa," Bonnibel cut in, smirking. "When did you start to like me?"

"Story for another day." Marceline dismissed her. "Basically, last night you were drunk as fuck. I don't know how you got drunk, but you were."

"Why were you at my friends' party, anyway? You don't like them." Bonnibel frowned.

"Marshall's designated driver." Marceline lied. She definitely wasn't admitting to Bonnibel that she went because of her. "Do you want to know what you did while you were drunk or not?"

"Yes."

"Then quit interrupting me. Save all questions until the end." Marceline ordered. "Anyways, you came staggering over to me and started hugging me, and I realised you were drunk and so I was going to take you back to your house, but your friend," Marceline paused in thought, "Lady, I think she's called -,"

"What do you call her in your head?"

"That's not important." Marceline rolled her eyes, "Yeah, anyway, she was being super protective over you – I think she thought I'd suck out your soul or something, I don't fucking know – but she basically told me not to take you home or your folks would flip, so I brought you back here. You were all giggly and weird. It was quite funny."

"Glad you found amusement in me embarrassing myself." Bonnibel muttered.

Marceline chuckled. "As always."

"Did I say any dumb stuff?" Bonnibel pressed.

"Uh…" Marceline paused in thought, before snickering a little. "You told me you liked sniffing the shirt I gave you because you think it smells nice."

Bonnibel flushed bright red. "I'm such an idiot. I probably creeped you out, didn't I? I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, dude. It was actually pretty funny." Marceline said. "You messed around with my bass and announced you were a musician, you made fun of me,"

"Why did I make fun of you?" Bonnibel frowned.

"No reason." Marceline bit on her lip. She definitely wasn't telling Bonnibel she still slept with a teddy bear. "You tried to cuddle me."

Bonnibel slapped a hand to her face and blushed a deeper scarlet. "I am _so_ embarrassing."

Then, Marceline said something that made Bonnibel's stomach drop.

"You told me you're gay." Marceline noticed the effect it had on Bonnibel. The usual smile was replaced by a look of horror, and her entire body had gone rigid. "Whoa, dude. Chill. It's fine, man. I won't tell anyone."

Bonnibel felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, and she put her head in her hands. "I might as well just move back to New York."

"I take it they were harsh about it there, huh?" Marceline questioned, before realising Bonnibel probably didn't want to talk about it. "Uh, Bonnie?"

Bonnibel gulped and finally looked Marceline straight in her crimson eyes, her own vision blurred due to the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Yes?"

"Do you want a hug?"

Marceline didn't need an answer; Bonnibel launched herself into Marceline's arms, burying her head in the taller girl's shoulder, inhaling the comforting scent. For once, Marceline hugged her back, albeit a little awkwardly, but it was soothing all the same. Bonnibel clung onto her for what felt like hours, until she finally found the courage to sit up and ask Marceline a question that had been bothering her since Marceline told her she knew. "You don't care?"

"About you being gay? Of course not. I _do_ care about how you got your snot on my favourite shirt, though."

Bonnibel let out a watery laugh, looking down at Marceline's 'no smoking' shirt, which had a wet patch in the shoulder. "Sorry."

"Don't sweat it, Bonnie." Marceline waved a hand in dismissal. "Does anyone else know?"

"The only people that know are my parents and you." Bonnibel responded. "And the people I used to go to school with in New York."

Marceline didn't question what happened there; she knew Bonnibel probably wouldn't want to talk about it. "Cool. Well, I won't tell anyone."

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks, Marceline. I should think of a nickname for you."

"Please don't go with the generic, completely overused -,"

"Marcy."

"There it is." Marceline sighed, rolling her eyes. "Dude, be creative."

"Uh…" Bonnibel looked up in thought. "I've got nothing."

"You'll think of something." Marceline assured, standing up from where she was sat on the bed. "You're probably hungry, so we can get you some breakfast and then I'll take you home."

Bonnibel nodded, although she wasn't happy with the last part of that plan. She'd rather spend the day with Marceline, not that she'd admit that. She decided to open up a new conversational topic as her and Marceline were walking down the stairs. "So, what _do_ you call my friends in your head?"

"Uh…I don't know, a bunch of stuff."

"What's Lady called?"

"Rainbows." Marceline shrugged. She held her hands up in defence at Bonnibel's judgemental glance. "What? She always wears rainbow."

"Finn?"

"Which one is that again?" Marceline asked as they entered the kitchen.

"He always wears that white bear hat -,"

"Hatboy."

"Really? And you tell _me_ to be creative?" Bonnibel laughed.

"If you're going to make fun of the nicknames, I won't tell you them." Marceline shrugged as she hopped up on the counter. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"It's nearly 1PM." Bonnibel pointed out. "I'd hardly call it breakfast."

"That's usually my breakfast time." Marceline countered. "So what do you want?"

"Anything."

"That really narrows it down, thanks." Marceline sarcastically shot back, rolling her eyes.

Bonnibel sighed. She really didn't think that sarcasm was necessary.

"What have you got in?" Bonnibel asked.

"Cereal, Pop Tarts, I can make you toast." Marceline listed. "I don't know. All sorts. I'm going to have some ice cream."

"For breakfast?" Bonnibel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Marceline nonchalantly shrugged. "Why the fuck not?"

Bonnibel chuckled as Marceline jumped off the counter and rummaged around in the freezer. "Hey, Marceline?"

"Yeah?"

"Seriously, when did you start to like me?" Bonnibel asked, bringing up the question Marceline had been dodging in their earlier conversation.

Marceline pulled out a tub of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream, setting it on the counter and closing the freezer. She grabbed a spoon from a drawer, before finally glancing up at Bonnibel. "Guess."

"Um…" Bonnibel thought hard, chewing down on her bottom lip. "Last night?"

"Nope."

"Today."

"Nope."

"Will you just tell me?" Bonnibel sighed.

Marceline rolled her eyes. "But that wouldn't be as fun."

"Please?"

"Fine." Marceline sighed. "I started liking you when we went to McDonald's with Keila."

"Really? I thought you still hated me then." Bonnibel frowned.

"I've never hated you. I don't really hate anyone." Marceline stated, prising the lid from the ice cream and driving her spoon into it.

"You sure act like it."

Marceline just shrugged in response, hitting the frozen ice cream with the spoon. "Damn it, it's hard."

"That usually happens when you freeze things." Bonnibel teased.

Marceline just rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Mrs Scientist. Hey, that can be your new nickname!"

"Stick with Bonnie." Bonnibel hurriedly replied. "What are some other nicknames you have for people?"

"Uh…your friend that's really hairy is called Wolverine."

"Jake?" Bonnibel questioned. "I think he'd be pleased with that. What's LSP?"

"I don't actually have one for her. The only word that springs to mind when you mention her is annoying." Marceline shrugged.

"Can I ask you something?" Bonnibel asked, carefully approaching Marceline who had sat herself back on the counter, eagerly awaiting the moment her ice cream softened up enough for her to eat it.

"Sure."

"Why does she hate you so much?" Bonnibel frowned. "LSP, I mean."

Marceline thought for a minute, frowning down at the spoon in her hands. Eventually, she looked back up at Bonnibel. "I have _absolutely_ no idea."

"You don't know?"

"Nope." Marceline replied, attempting to stab the ice cream with her spoon. "She was always kind of mean to me back in kindergarten when I was weird and had no friends. Maybe I stepped on her Barbie or something."

"Maybe I'll ask her." Bonnibel mused.

"If you do, tell me what she says." Marceline responded, finally shovelling a huge spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She patted the counter beside her. "Grab a spoon and pull up a counter."

Bonnibel smiled, opening the drawer she saw Marceline get her spoon out of, grabbing one for herself. Then, she jumped and sat herself on the counter next to Marceline, getting a spoonful of ice cream and eating it. "This is good."

"Yup."

They were sat in a comfortable silence – well, comfortable for Bonnibel, Marceline just felt awkward – until Bonnibel finally spoke up. "So…we're friends now?"

"Uh…I mean…I – If you...uh…" Marceline awkwardly fumbled over her words. "I don't…uh…"

Bonnibel giggled. She found Marceline's inability to find words to respond to easy questions rather adorable. "Is that a yes?"

Marceline didn't bother trying to speak, knowing that she'd just make a mess of what she wanted to say. She simply nodded in response to Bonnibel's question, refusing to meet Bonnibel's gaze.

Bonnibel grinned, wrapping her arms around Marceline's waist in a gentle hug. "Awesome."

"Uh…so…what exactly do we do now?" Marceline asked, looking up at Bonnibel.

Bonnibel stared into the girl's unusual yet entrancing crimson eyes. "I don't really know. I'm not exactly very experienced in the field of socialising."

"It's probably easier when you're not trying to make friends with a socially awkward person." Marceline stated. "I'm sorry in advance."

"_You're_ socially awkward? You always seem so…cool." Bonnibel exclaimed, mouth agape.

Marceline actually laughed; one of those rare, real laughs that made Bonnibel's stomach do a flip. "Me? Cool? I think you have me mixed up with someone else."

"You do." Bonnibel continued. "You're so aloof and mysterious."

Marceline laughed even harder at that. "Seriously? Whoa. News to me. Keila always tells me I look like fucking nerd."

Bonnibel decided that Marceline looked beautiful when she was happy. "To me, you came across as this effortlessly cool person. I don't know."

"I don't know what made you think that, dude."

"Maybe it's because you use words like dude and rad." Bonnibel suggested. "And you can play all these different instruments and it's just really cool and fascinating to me."

"I'll teach you to play if you want." Marceline offered. "Then you can be 'aloof and mysterious', too."

Bonnibel chuckled, taking another spoonful of the ice cream. "I already know I have the musical talent of a walrus."

"Well, then I'll teach you to have the musical talent of a walrus that can play an instrument." Marceline shrugged. "I'll teach you anything you want."

"Which instruments won't hurt my fingers?" Bonnibel asked.

"None, if you practise." Marceline replied. "My ukulele has nylon strings and they don't hurt your fingers that much as far as I know. My fingers were already calloused when I started playing that. Piano and keyboard won't do anything to your fingers, though."

"Which is harder?" Bonnibel asked.

"I'd say piano. Ukulele was super easy, though." Marceline said.

"I'll go with ukulele, then." Bonnibel decided. "You'll seriously teach me how to play?"

"Sure. It might be a good bonding experience or something." Marceline shrugged. "It might be funny."

"You seem like the type to lose your patience really quick, though."

"Nah, I'm pretty chill." Marceline stated. "It's mostly just because I'm too lazy to do much. Shouting and arguing is too much effort."

"Have you ever argued with Keila?" Bonnibel asked.

Marceline laughed. "Yeah, one time when we were in middle school. I ate all her ice cream, she got mad, I laughed at her, she laughed at me and we were all good."

"You guys have never had a real fight?"

"Nope. We pretty much agree on everything." Marceline said. "You know, unless you count our endless debates over which bands are better."

"You guys talk about music a lot." Bonnibel pointed out. "It's confusing."

"I'm surprised Marshall hasn't taught you any of the music-talk we use or showed you any good bands." Marceline frowned. "Although let's not lie, the alpha twin over here," She pointed to herself, "clearly has the better music taste."

Bonnibel laughed. "But don't you guys listen to the same type of music? Rock?"

"I listen to all sorts." Marceline stated. "But mostly rock, yes. Marshall's only really into rock."

"What other stuff do you like?" Bonnibel pressed.

"Hm…acoustic stuff, I like some electronic, I'll very occasionally like a song in the charts but that's pretty rare, and country if you still count Taylor Swift as country." Marceline listed. "But I'm into mostly rock and its subgenres."

"_You_ like Taylor Swift?" Bonnibel chuckled. "Never would've thought that."

"She's a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine." Marceline admitted.

Bonnibel was about to ask another question about Marceline's music taste, but Simon walked into the kitchen with two empty mugs. "Morning, Bonnibel! How's that hangover?"

Bonnibel's eyes widened. "You didn't see me drunk, did you?"

"No, Betty and I heard you, however." Simon chuckled. "It's fine. You weren't too bad. I've seen much worse with this one." He nodded towards Marceline.

Marceline awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah…we don't talk about things like that when I'm attempting to make new friends."

Simon beamed. "I told you Bonnibel was nice."

"Shush." Marceline hushed him, jumping off the counter and grabbing the nearly melted tub of ice cream. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go upstairs before you try to embarrass me."

"Marcy, I'm basically your Dad, I'm going to be an embarrassment at times." Simon joked.

Marceline leant down and put the ice cream back in the freezer, shutting the door. "Come on, Bonnie."

Bonnibel slid off the counter and followed Marceline upstairs and back into her bedroom. Almost automatically, Marceline grabbed her TV remote and switched the TV on. "Anything you want to watch, or do you just want me to pick?"

"You can pick. I don't watch much TV." Bonnibel shrugged, sitting down on Marceline's soft bed. "I'm sorry for stealing your bed, by the way. It was very comfortable, though."

"It's fine, dude."

"Why didn't you stay in with me? I wouldn't have minded." Bonnibel questioned.

Marceline avoided the question. "Why did you even get drunk in the first place? You never seemed the type to do that to me."

"I don't know. I decided I'd have one beer to be a social drinker, and I'd never had it before. It tasted quite nice, and so I kept going back for more. I guess that's how I ended up how I was." Bonnibel said. "I'm never going to do it again, though. My head hurts."

Marceline sat down on the bed next to her. "Yeah, that'll happen."

Bonnibel rested back against the pillows and outstretched her legs. Marceline mirrored her actions and flicked through the TV guide, searching for something decent for the two of them to watch. Bonnibel looked down at Marceline's feet, frowning when she saw Marceline was wearing mismatched socks. "Marceline, your socks are mismatched."

"Yeah, I do that." Marceline shrugged. "Always have."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just do." Marceline said.

Bonnibel hummed in acknowledgement and the two fell into a comfortable silence as Marceline found some dumb comedy movie to watch. "Marceline?"

"Yeah?"

"When's your birthday?" Bonnibel asked.

"Why, exactly?"

"I just want to know if I've missed it or not. I didn't know Lady's so I didn't have a chance to get her anything." Bonnibel said. "I need to know yours and Marshall's so I don't miss it."

Marceline didn't move her gaze from the TV. "I was born on October 31st."

"Halloween."

"Yup." Marceline nodded. "Maybe that's why your friend thinks I'm a vampire."

"How do you know about that?" Bonnibel laughed.

"Someone literally came over to me and asked me and then they told me she started it." Marceline shrugged. "Please tell me it's meant to be an insult and she doesn't _actually_ think I'm a vampire?"

"I think she believes her theory that you're a vampire." Bonnibel chuckled.

Marceline slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh my fucking God. _Really_?"

"Yeah. She says it's because of your eyes and because you're so pale."

Marceline looked up in thought, before a devilish smirk crossed her face. "I could think of a good prank here."

"Please tell me you're not going to do something stupid."

"I'm not going to do something stupid." Marceline replied. "I'm going to do something funny."

Bonnibel didn't want to think about what that meant, and decided to change the subject. "So yours and Marshall's birthday is on Halloween?"

"Nope. Mine is. His is the day after." Marceline said.

Bonnibel frowned. "But you're twins."

"I was born four minutes to midnight. He was born five minutes after midnight." Marceline explained. "His birthday is November 1st."

"Ah, I see." Bonnibel nodded. "So you're only just born on Halloween."

"Yup." Marceline nodded. "When we used to go trick or treating my Mom would make us wear a themed costume. We brought in twice the candy."

"That's cute." Bonnibel smiled, although she couldn't help but wonder about what Marceline had just said. _Her Mom_. Bonnibel knew she shouldn't ask, and she bit back the question she was dying to know the answer to. Where were Marceline's parents?

"If you want, I can take you home now. You still need to get dressed, but I can lend you some clothes." Marceline offered.

"It's fine, I'll just re-wear what I wore last night." Bonnibel said. "It's not like I'll be wearing them for too long; I'll be getting into pyjamas once I get home."

Marceline nodded, pointing towards the desk chair she rarely ever sat on. "Your clothes are over there on that chair."

Bonnibel chuckled. "I know. They stick out like a sore thumb next to all those blacks and greys."

Marceline just rolled her eyes in response, turning back to the TV as Bonnibel climbed off the bed and grabbed her clothes, heading into the bathroom to change.

As she was changing, Bonnibel couldn't help but think about Marceline's parents. She knew she shouldn't and that it was none of her business, but she really was curious as to why Marshall and Marceline lived with Simon.

Maybe she'd ask, if her and Marceline ever got close enough.

It didn't take Bonnibel long to change her clothes, and she carefully folded the pyjamas Marceline had given her into a neat pile, before walking out from the bathroom and across the hallway. She froze outside Marceline's bedroom door when she heard the angelic voice from inside.

Marceline was singing.

Bonnibel didn't recognise the song, and she didn't care. All she was thinking about was the beautiful singing voice from inside the room. Marceline wasn't even singing properly, she was just singing to herself as she played about on her phone, but Bonnibel still thought it was phenomenal.

Bonnibel lingered outside the half open door and listened to the beautiful voice.

"_Thanks to you, I'm not myself,  
>I'm all strung out, that much is clear.<br>And I'll spend my whole lifetime with your lifeline wrapped around my throat."_

Bonnibel made herself known and walked into the room, setting the folded pyjamas on next to Marceline on her bed. She smiled at the other girl, who was texting someone – probably Keila. "You have a _really_ nice singing voice."

"Thanks, Bonnie." Marceline replied, standing up. "Alright, let's get you home."

The drive to Bonnibel's house was unusually quick, and Bonnibel found herself upset when Marceline's car pulled up outside her house.

Bonnibel smiled at Marceline. "Thanks for everything, Marceline."

"Don't sweat it, Bonnie." Marceline shrugged. "It was no problem."

Bonnibel opened the car door and stepped out. "I'll see you at school."

"Yeah. I'll wait for you to get in." Marceline nodded towards Bonnibel's front door.

Bonnibel smiled. "Thanks."

Bonnibel closed the car door and walked up her driveway, opening the front door which had been left unlocked. She turned and waved goodbye to Marceline, shutting the door and shouting up to her parents. "Guys, I'm home!"

Her Mom came out of the living room. "Did you have fun with your friends?"

Bonnibel nodded. She wasn't going to tell her parents that she got drunk. They'd kill her. "Yeah. I had a good night."

"Whose house did you stay at?" Her Mom pressed.

Bonnibel tried not to roll her eyes. Her Mom had always been really protective over her. "Marceline's."

A frown was what she got in response. "Marceline? You've never mentioned her before."

"Yeah, she's a new friend." Bonnibel said.

"Do you like her?"

"_Mom_!" Bonnibel exclaimed. "Not like that!"

"You should invite her over for dinner some time."

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah, okay. Later."

Her Mom didn't reply, and Bonnibel took that as her chance to escape, quickly heading up to her room before her Mom could ask her any more questions about Marceline. She pulled out her phone once she sat down on her bed, sending a quick Facebook message to Marceline.

Bonnibel: My Mom didn't seem to suspect I'd been drunk. Thanks again.

It took Marceline a few minutes to reply; Bonnibel assumed she'd been driving home.

Marceline: no prob, man

Marceline: now take a nap, your head is probably killing

Bonnibel: Aye, aye, Captain. ;)

Marceline: that could be your nickname for me

Bonnibel: Ah, but that would imply you had some sort of power over me.

Marceline: ah, but what if I do?

Marceline: what if secretly I'm the queen of everything

Bonnibel: You're less awkward over text.

Bonnibel: Not that your awkwardness isn't absolutely adorable. :)

Marceline: good to know, now take your nap

Marceline: and don't call me adorable

Bonnibel: Sure, 'Queen of Everything'. ;)

Marceline didn't reply after that, and Bonnibel found herself thinking about the dark haired girl as she changed into her pyjamas – Marceline's rock shirt and a pair of pink pyjama shorts. She sniffed the shirt; Marceline's scent was fading. Bonnibel settled down under her pink duvet and closed her eyes, hoping that maybe when she woke up, she could talk to Marceline over Facebook.

Bonnibel woke up from her nap a few hours later and checked her phone to see a Facebook message from Marceline.

Marceline's message read, 'text me, I hate facebook' and had her number next to it.

Bonnibel grinned.

She was _definitely _texting her.


	13. Chapter 13

**happy christmas**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Friday 21<strong>**st**** February 2014**

The first thing Bonnibel noticed when her alarm woke her up at 7AM that morning was that it had snowed overnight.

Bonnibel didn't really know how she felt about that; sometimes she liked the snow, and other times she didn't. She didn't like how after a few days, it became an annoying slush which soaked her feet and ruined her shoes, but she did like how it made everything look so snug and wintery. She enjoyed going out into the back yard and building a snowman with her parents. She liked walking the streets and being the first to step on it and hearing the satisfying crunch as it flattened under her feet.

After staring out of her window at the sun which was just rising and looking out at the orange tinted sky, she headed downstairs for breakfast to see her Dad in the kitchen with his morning coffee. "Morning."

He smiled. "Good morning, Bonnibel. Did you sleep okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"School is cancelled today, so you can go and get another few hours if you'd like." He replied.

"School was cancelled?" She frowned. She couldn't help but be a little upset by that. She liked school; she loved learning new things and she didn't like spending days in bed when she could be being productive. "I take it it's closed because of the snow?"

"Yes." He nodded. "You could always do your homework if you don't want another few hours sleep."

"I did it all last night." Bonnibel said. She could always do an experiment, but she had nothing she would like to research and she couldn't be bothered getting her lab equipment out.

"Why don't you call one of your friends and invite them round?" He suggested.

"They'll all be going back to bed." Bonnibel stated. "Is Mom working from home today?"

"Yeah." Her Dad nodded. "She should be waking up soon."

Bonnie nodded. "Okay. I'm going to make myself a cup of chamomile tea and then go upstairs and read. Maybe I'll call Lady later on."

"Sounds like a good plan." He smiled.

As Bonnie was stood waiting for the water to boil, her Dad spoke up again. "How are you settling in here? I know you were reluctant to leave New York."

She smiled. "I like it a lot. I have great friends and I'm confident that they'll be accepting when I tell them about…you know."

"You haven't said anything yet?" He looked surprised.

"Of course I haven't. After what happened back home I'm not telling another soul until I'm sure they won't freak out at me." Bonnibel said, before she hesitated. "I did tell someone by accident, however."

"How do you accidentally tell someone you're gay?" Her Dad laughed. "Sometimes I wonder if you're really as smart as you let on."

Bonnibel laughed, gently smacking his arm as she walked past him for a mug. "It just slipped out."

"How did they take it?" He asked, as Bonnie was pouring the water into the cup and onto the teabag.

"She took it really well. I cried on her a little bit because I wasn't ready to actually tell anyone, and she was super sweet about it." Bonnie smiled.

"Was it Lady?" He asked.

"No." Bonnibel said. "It was Marceline. You haven't met her but she's really cool."

"Why didn't you invite her round with all your other friends?" He pressed.

"We weren't friends then," Bonnibel said as she carefully lifted the teabag form her cup with a spoon and threw it in the trash. "But we are now."

"Oh." He nodded as she made her way to the door. "Well, have a nice day. I'm going to head to work."

"See you, Dad." Bonnibel called as she made her way back upstairs and into her bedroom, placing her mug down on her tidy bedside table. She picked up her phone out of habit to see no notifications, as usual.

Sighing, Bonnibel put her phone down and walked over to her alphabetically organised bookshelf, looking through her books. Nothing stuck out to her, so Bonnie snuggled back down in her bed and rested her head on the soft pillow. She grabbed her phone again and went into her text messages, thumb hovering above the conversation with Marceline. She thought for a moment, typing out a message.

Bonnibel: Hey, Marceline. School is closed today because of the snow and I was wondering if you would want to hang out. :)

She hoped the text didn't look too pushy or desperate, locking her phone and placing it on her bedside table, picking up her mug of tea. She took small sips from the hot drink, her legs still wrapped up in her pink duvet, not expecting Marceline to text back as it was still pretty early. Marceline surprised her when her phone vibrated.

Marceline: okay dude but let me get a little bit of sleep first

Bonnibel: That's fine. Come round whenever you like.

Marceline: 10:30 good for you?

Bonnibel: That's fine. I'll see you then.

Bonnibel settled down in her bed and smiled. She'd made plans for the day, so she wasn't going to be sat around doing nothing. All she had to do now was pass the time.

7:30AM. She had 3 hours to kill.

She might as well follow Marceline's lead and get an extra bit of sleep.

Bonnie woke up a second time at 9:47AM, and got up to get a quick shower and get herself ready for Marceline to come. She was dressed and ready in good time, and went downstairs to make herself breakfast; toast and yet another cup of chamomile tea. When she got back into her room after breakfast, she had two texts from Marceline.

Marceline: yo I'm walking round to yours now

Marceline: what joys do you have in store for me today

Bonnibel smiled, texting back.

Bonnibel: Anything you want to do. We'll have fun, don't worry.

Marceline: kinda hoping you'd come up with the ideas here tbh I literally haven't made friends and bonded with another human since I was like five and even then that happened because I'm fucking clumsy and awkward

Bonnibel: If you want to make friends, just be yourself. That's what my parents always told me as a kid.

Marceline: so you want me to be awkward and throw marmalade all over you

Bonnibel: You could try that if you like. ;)

Marceline: the wink face makes that text look really sexual

Marceline: mm yeah babe try that mmmmmmmmm ;)

Bonnibel: You're a very distasteful individual, you know.

Marceline: thanks, I try

Bonnibel: I really don't know how to respond to you taking an insult as a compliment.

Marceline: maybe you should stop sending me sexual wink face texts and then calling ME the 'distasteful' one

Bonnibel: They weren't intended to be sexual, you big jerk.

Bonnibel: Unless you want them to be. ;)

Marceline: gosh quit trying to seduce me, fuckass

Bonnie laughed out loud at Marceline's response, feeling a little bit stupid when she did. Luckily, her Mom wasn't in the room to get involved and ask dumb questions about who she was texting.

Bonnibel: Bonding at its finest.

Marceline: you were the one that told me to be myself

Marceline: I'm outside by the way

Bonnibel: Okay, I'll come and open the door.

Bonnibel walked towards the front door and unlocked it with the spare key, shooting Marceline a warm smile as she opened the door. "Hey."

Marceline had her hands stuffed in the pockets of a black leather jacket, the hood of the jumper she was wearing underneath covering her ears. She quickly stepped inside. "I'm freezing my fucking tits off."

"That was a lovely welcome." Bonnibel joked, as Marceline kicked her shoes off.

"I should've walked here wrapped in my duvet or something." Marceline stated, finally looking to Bonnibel. "Hey, Bonnie."

"Why didn't you drive?" Bonnibel questioned. "You have a car."

"I couldn't find my keys." Marceline shrugged, "And I need the exercise. I've eaten like three McDonald's meals this week."

"Simon let you do that?" Bonnibel asked. Her parents barely let her have one McDonald's a month.

"No." Marceline said. "But what he doesn't know won't kill him. What are we doing today, anyways?"

"What do you want to do?" Bonnie asked. "We could go upstairs and watch a movie, if you want."

"That's cool with me, dude." Marceline replied.

Bonnibel smiled, walking towards the stairs. "Follow me. If you don't want to be harassed by my Mom, I'd keep pretty quiet."

Marceline nodded, following Bonnibel up the stairs and into her bedroom, sitting down on her bed. She tucked her knees to her chest and looked up at Bonnie with an innocent expression which made Bonnibel want to hug her as tight as she could. "What movies have you got?"

"All sorts. If you don't like any of my DVDs we can stream something online." Bonnibel said.

"Ooh," Marceline wiggled her eyebrows. "Illegal streaming, I like it."

"Shut up." Bonnibel rolled her eyes, biting back a small grin. "I don't do it that often."

"Dude, I streamed the entire season six of Buffy last night illegally. It's no biggie." Marceline assured. "I just didn't expect little miss princess to do that."

"I thought we were over that dumb nickname." Bonnibel laughed.

Marceline mock gasped. "My nicknames are dumb, are they? I'm offended. Gosh, I can't believe I even considered being friends with you."

Bonnie sat down on her bed next to Marceline and elbowed the other girl. "Shut up. Your nicknames are awesome and extremely creative."

"Heck yeah they are." Marceline nodded, before letting out a light chuckle. "Nah, they're dumb. I'm _really_ bad at thinking of them. I literally just go with the first thing that comes to mind. Speaking of which, how are your friends Rainbow, Hatboy and Wolverine doing?"

"Hearing you use them in casual conversation is pretty funny, not going to lie." Bonnie laughed. "If you had to give yourself a nickname, what would it be?"

Marceline leant her head back against the wall and bit on her lip in thought, a sight which Bonnibel found adorable. "Uh…I don't know…hm…Super Cool Punk Rock Mega Awesome Rad Dude." Marceline stated, chuckling. Bonnie giggled. "Nah, man. I don't know. Probably like Awkward Dumbass or something."

"You're not _that_ awkward." Bonnibel assured.

"Really? 'Cause I feel pretty awkward." Marceline said, resting her head on her knees. "I don't know, man. Fuck."

"Why do you feel awkward?" Bonnie asked, tentatively placing a hand on Marceline's shoulder.

"I don't know, dude." Marceline sighed. "I just do. I'm _really_ not used to talking to like…people, I guess. I just…ugh. I'm sorry, man."

Bonnibel shot her a warm smile. "Well, you don't have to feel awkward around me. We're friends."

Marceline nodded, and sent a genuine smile Bonnibel's way. It was infectious. Bonnibel couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah…thanks, Bonnie."

Bonnibel gave her a reassuring squeeze. "No problem, Marceline."

"So…" Marceline trailed off, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

Bonnie smiled. "If you want, I can do all the question asking."

"That'd be good." Marceline nodded. "Thanks."

"Okay." Bonnibel nodded. She tried to think up a good question, her eyes falling on Marceline's nose ring. "When did you get your nose pierced?"

"I was fifteen. I wanted to do it the year before, but my Dad told me I wasn't allowed. I did it anyway." Marceline shrugged.

Bonnie was itching to ask about Marceline's Dad, but she knew she'd definitely be overstepping some boundaries. "Did it hurt?"

"Mm…" Marceline looked up in thought before nodding. "I guess, a little. I don't really remember. It was two years ago, man."

Bonnibel smiled. "Well, it looks good on you."

"Thanks, dude." Marceline flashed a small smile. "Why'd you dye your hair pink?"

Bonnibel beamed; Marceline was actually asking her questions, too. "Well, I figured that every teenager has a streak of rebellion at some point, and I like the colour pink, so I decided I'd dye my hair. I was fourteen at the time, and I just kept it."

"Oh. Cool. It really suits you." Marceline replied.

There was a slightly awkward silence, and Bonnie decided to break it before it became overbearing. "Have you written any new songs lately?"

Marceline laughed. "Oh, _yeah_. I wrote one at like 3AM a few nights ago and when I woke up and read over it, I wondered if I was drunk when I wrote it. One of the lyrics was something like, 'Oreos fill my heart with joy,'."

"I'd buy that on iTunes." Bonnie laughed. "You're a lyrical inspiration."

Marceline chuckled. "Some of my lyrics actually aren't half bad. Others are weird and I was probably drunk or super sleepy when I wrote them."

"I bet the sober lyrics are great." Bonnie smiled. "You still need to teach me how to play ukulele."

"I would've brought one if you mentioned it over text." Marceline replied. "I'll teach you some other time."

"You can check out my Dad's guitar if you want." Bonnibel offered.

Marceline's face lit up. "Seriously? Dude, that'd be rad."

Bonnibel smiled. "Wait here, I'll go get it."

She slipped out of the room and into her Dad's office, where his guitar was left adjacent to the bookcase. She picked it up, the instrument cold to the touch, and carried it back to Marceline, who held out her hands and made a grabbing motion with her fingers when the guitar was in sight. Marceline grinned like a little kid when the guitar was passed to her. She gently strummed a chord and picked a few notes with her fingers. "This is a really good guitar. Fender. I have a thing for Fenders."

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

Marceline shrugged. "They just have a really nice sound. My ukulele is by Fender, actually."

"You should play something for me." Bonnibel said.

Marceline frowned. "Why?"

"I want to hear you play." Bonnie explained, sitting back down on the bed. "I think you're really talented already and so far I've only heard you play through a door."

"I don't know, Bonnie." Marceline sighed. "No. Not yet."

"Why not? I'm not asking for a full-fledged performance. I just want to hear you play the guitar." Bonnibel assured.

"What if I fuck up?"

"I doubt you'll mess up. Play." Bonnie nodded towards the guitar, nudging Marceline. "You don't need to sing or anything."

"I don't really feel comfortable enough to -," Marceline started.

Bonnie cut her off. "Okay. Don't worry about it. Another time."

"I was _going_ to say that I don't feel comfortable enough to sing, but I'll play you a couple of chords." Marceline rolled her eyes.

Bonnibel's face brightened. "Oh! Great!"

"Pick some chords."

"I don't know any chords."

"Pick four letters from the start of the alphabet." Marceline said. "Up to G. I won't bring sharps into this."

"Uh…A, C, E and G." Bonnibel listed.

Marceline nodded, softly strumming out a small sequence from the chords Bonnibel picked. Bonnie smiled in content as Marceline played. She really was talented. Marceline strummed each chord four times, and when she finished, she looked up at Bonnibel and smiled that real smile that never failed to amaze Bonnie. "Happy?"

"Very." Bonnibel smiled. "Maybe some time you'll sing for me."

"Maybe." Marceline shrugged, plucking a few notes on the guitar. "In the future."

Bonnibel nodded. "Yeah. I look forward to it."

"Damn. I need to practise, then." Marceline chuckled, setting the guitar down on the bed. "I don't want to disappoint."

"You're forgetting I have the musical talent of a tone deaf walrus. I'm impressed if people can play two or three chords. You play like ten different instruments _and_ sing _and_ write songs. I highly doubt you'll disappoint me." Bonnie chuckled.

"I don't play _ten_ instruments. I only play…" She paused and counted, tallying them up with her fingers. "Seven."

"That's still a lot." Bonnibel crossed her arms.

Marceline shrugged and shuffled about, getting herself comfortable. Bonnibel watched as Marceline ran a hand through her side-bangs and pushed them from her eyes, before her fingers diverted to fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. Bonnie smiled to herself, feeling rather relaxed. Well, until Marceline noticed the shirt she gave Bonnibel on the pink pillow closest to them. "You really _do_ sleep in it."

Bonnibel blushed. "All the time."

"Why?"

"It's comfortable. I like it."

"That's not what you told me when you were hammered." Marceline snickered.

Bonnibel gave Marceline a playful elbow. "Shut up. Apparently I blurt out secrets when I'm drunk. I'm never having alcohol again."

"Keila says that every time she gets drunk."

"Well, I've only been drunk the one time and I'm _certain_ I won't be doing that again. The headache killed me." Bonnibel said. "Have you ever been drunk?"

Marceline's eyebrows shot up. "What do you think?"

"I think you have."

"Correct."

Bonnie smiled. "When did you first get drunk?"

"At a party when I was fourteen." Marceline shrugged. "It was weird. I mean, I used to be kind of like you before I started actually leaving the house."

"What do you mean?"

"I was a giant nerd."

Bonnibel scoffed. "I'm not _that_ much of a nerd."

"You're literally the nerd queen." Marceline laughed. "Former dork Marceline would have bowed down to you."

Bonnibel elbowed Marceline in the ribs. "I am _not_ the nerd queen. I'm sure that there's somebody out there who is even worse than me. What were you like, anyways?"

"Well, I was getting As in literally everything, and I stayed in all the time studying, I wore glasses -,"

"_You_ need glasses?" Bonnie cooed. "Aw, that's adorable!"

"I don't even have bad eyesight. I'm just a little short-sighted and I never wear them anyways." Marceline said. "And don't call me adorable. It's weird."

Bonnibel held up her hands in defence. "Sorry. Continue your description of your former self."

"Well…I was a _little_ chubby, but in my defence I did have a weak spot for Twizzlers." Marceline stated. "And I was always super short for my age. By short, I mean there was a point in time where LSP was taller than me."

Bonnibel giggled. "You're painting a really pretty picture here, Marceline."

Marceline slapped a hand to her forehead. "God, I hate myself. I literally want to go back in time and punch myself in the face."

"If it means anything, we probably would have been friends back then."

"I was friends with everybody back then." Bonnibel wasn't sure if she should ask what changed, but Marceline continued talking. "Just try and imagine past me drunk. Terrifying, isn't it?"

Bonnie laughed at the mental image. "More hilarious than terrifying."

"God, I was such a nerd." Marceline said, before shaking her head.

"Would you tell me if I asked what changed?"

"With what?"

"You." Bonnie said. "You used to be like that and now you're like this."

"I got into bands, got a piercing and started wearing skinny jeans." Marceline frowned. "And I got thinner. That's pretty much it."

"Are you implying that secretly you're still a nerd and you just dress like a hardcore punk?" Bonnibel teased.

Marceline shrugged, picking at her bitten-down fingernails. "What do you think?"

"I think you're secretly a big dork, Abadeer."

"Damn. You've figured out my big secret." Marceline bit back a grin, sitting up. "Are we going to watch a movie or what?"

Bonnie smiled. "Sure. You pick."

"Anything Disney is cool with me." Marceline shrugged.

Bonnibel froze as she was sitting up. "Did that sentence _seriously_ just come out of your mouth?"

Marceline rolled her eyes and bit back a grin. "What? I like Disney movies."

Bonnibel laughed, sitting up and heading over to her DVD drawer, searching through for some Disney movies, chucking the cases on the bed as she found them. "Luckily for you, I have quite a few Disney films."

Marceline leaned forward and examined the DVDs, picking one up. "Lion King. Fuck yeah."

Bonnie nodded, packing away the other DVDs and taking the Lion King disk from Marceline, putting it in her player and starting it up, settling back down next to Marceline. Bonnie smiled. "If you'd have told me I'd be watching The Lion King with you in the near future when I'd first met you, I'd have laughed."

Marceline smirked. "What? Aloof and mysterious people can like Disney movies too."

Bonnie laughed. "As much as you laugh at the concept, you really did come off as mysterious."

"Really? Most people just say I'm scary."

"Well, that too." Bonnie admitted.

Marceline scoffed. "That was the part where you were supposed to say, 'aw, you're not scary'. Thanks for coming through, Bonnie."

Bonnibel wrapped her arms around Marceline in a hug. "Aw, you know I don't think you're scary. I never really bought that act."

"Act? Dude, I'm tough."

"You tell yourself that, miss 'I like watching Disney movies in my free time,'." Bonnibel laughed. "You're a softie and you know it."

"Are you saying you think you could take me in a fight?" Marceline raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I'd kick your ass."

"In your dreams." Bonnie teased, even though she knew if she was in an actual fight with Marceline, Marceline would definitely win.

Marceline smiled. "You know I'd never hurt you, Bonnie. You'd probably win because I wouldn't do anything."

Bonnibel grinned. "You're the best, you know."

"I try."

* * *

><p>Bonnibel really was happy she'd invited Marceline over. She'd had the most fun she'd had since moving, and she really didn't want it to end. After they'd finished watching a few movies, Bonnie had suggested that the two of them should go outside and have some fun in the snow. Marceline had then launched into an anecdote on the way outside about how her and Marshall used to build igloos as kids and it was one of the only times they ever got along. Bonnibel then decided that that's what the two of them should do rather than build the classic snowman.<p>

Marceline – being the troublemaker she is – distracted Bonnie's focus from the igloo they were building by throwing a snowball straight at her. When Bonnibel turned to her with a scowl, Marceline smirked. "What? I thought you wanted to have fun."

Bonnie chuckled. "Oh, it's on."

"You're going down." Marceline said, throwing another snowball which hit Bonnibel's shoulder.

Bonnibel scooped up a handful of snow, throwing it at Marceline. Marceline dodged out of the way. Bonnie huffed. "You can't do that!"

"It's a snowball fight, Bonnie. There aren't really any rules." Marceline replied, hitting Bonnibel with yet another snowball.

It turned into a full-blown snowball war, Bonnie chasing Marceline around the back yard incredibly determined to actually hit her with a snowball, which she failed to do most of the time she threw one.

Bonnibel was the one to call a truce, when Marceline snuck up behind her and put snow down the back of her jumper. Then, when Marceline was off guard, Bonnibel tripped her up so she fell in the pile of snow that was at one point their igloo.

"Bonnie! Not cool, dude!" Marceline exclaimed as she sat up. "You called a truce!"

"That was perfectly justified; you kept getting me with snowballs." Bonnibel stated, holding out a hand to help Marceline up. "Come on."

Bonnie pulled Marceline up by the other girl's cold hand. Marceline brushed snow from her clothes. "Dude, you're _brutal_."

Bonnibel smiled. "I'd say I won that snowball fight."

"By cheating." Marceline added. "You cheated. Got me off guard."

"I still won." Bonnibel muttered. "Do you want to go inside?"

"Yeah. It's fucking freezing out here."

"You'd better not use that word around my Mom if you meet her." Bonnie warned, smiling. "She's one of those people that hates swearing."

"I can usually hold it back around adults." Marceline said. "People my age? Nope."

Bonnibel pushed open the back door to her house, stepping aside for Marceline to go in. "You never hold it back around Simon."

"I try to, but sometimes the occasional bad word will slip out." Marceline replied as she slipped inside.

Bonnibel followed her in. "He doesn't like it when you swear, does he?"

"Nah. He still sees me as an innocent little seven year old most of the time."

"You? Innocent?" Bonnie frowned, closing the door. "Next joke, please."

Marceline laughed. "Funny."

Bonnibel grabbed Marceline's wrist and pulled her along. "Come on, let's go to my room."

Marceline rolled her eyes, but let Bonnie pull her upstairs. She sat down on Bonnibel's bed, her back against the wall. Bonnibel grabbed her phone and checked for notifications, surprised to see she had a text from Lady.

Lady: We're coming round to get you in a bit because we're all hanging out, I don't care how much studying you want to do

Bonnie frowned at the text, looking over to Marceline, who smirked. "Texting your girlfriend, huh?"

Bonnie blushed, picking up a pillow and throwing it Marceline's way. "I don't have a girlfriend. Lady just texted me."

Marceline nodded. "If you want to hang out with your friends, just tell me. I'll go."

"No!" Bonnie replied, much too quickly. "Stay. I'm going to tell her I'm busy."

"Dude, you don't have to do that for me."

"I like spending time with you and I know you don't like them. It's fine. I'd rather be with you." Bonnibel said.

"You'd rather be with me?" Marceline repeated.

Bonnibel looked up and was surprised by the look of shock on Marceline's face. She smiled. "Well…you're fun to be around."

Marceline smiled and looked at her feet, and Bonnie was sure she saw a light blush on Marceline's cheeks. "Thanks, Bonnie. You're pretty rad, too."

Bonnibel grinned, before typing out a text to Lady on her phone.

Bonnibel: Sorry, I'm busy. I'll hang out with you guys some other time.

Lady texted back quickly.

Lady: You always say that though, we're already on our way anyway

Bonnibel: I'm with a friend.

Lady: A New York friend? Can we meet them?

Bonnibel: They're not from New York. You already know her.

Lady: Well who is it?

Bonnibel: Marceline.

Lady: Now I know you're lying

Bonnibel didn't bother texting back. If Lady didn't believe her, she'd see for herself when she came over. "Well, Lady's adamant on coming over. Sorry."

"It's cool, dude. I'll leave you to your friends." Marceline replied, and went to sit up.

Bonnibel shook her head. "Don't go. You don't need to leave because of them. I told her you're here and she doesn't believe me, so it's her fault."

"I don't know, man." Marceline muttered. "Your friends kind of hate me and stuff."

"They don't hate you!" Bonnie assured. "They're just…afraid of you."

Marceline shrugged. "Either way, I don't want to intrude on your nerd fest. I'll go and see Keila or something. It's fine, dude. I swear."

Bonnibel sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry about them crashing our day."

Marceline smiled. "It's okay, Bonnie. Really. We'll hang out again some other time."

"Okay. I'll walk you downstairs."

Bonnie waited for Marceline to tie her shoelaces up and get her coat on, before unlocking the front door. Marceline was about to leave, when Bonnibel grabbed onto the sleeve of Marceline's leather jacket. "You're not leaving without a hug."

Marceline let out a small laugh. "Whatever you say, Bonnie."

Bonnibel wrapped her arms around Marceline's middle and nestled her face into Marceline's shoulder. She couldn't contain her grin when Marceline gave her a gentle squeeze back. She looked up to see her Mom stood at the top of the stairs with an eyebrow raised, and she quickly let go of Marceline and smiled. "I'll see you at school."

"Yeah. See you on Monday, Bonnie." Marceline said as Bonnibel unlocked the front door for her.

Marceline shot Bonnibel one last smile before making her way out of Bonnibel's house.

As Bonnie watched Marceline walk down the driveway, she couldn't help but be annoyed at Lady for cutting her time with Marceline short.


	14. Chapter 14

**Wednesday 26****th**** February 2014**

"Hey, Bubblegum." Lady said as she was walking Bonnie to History. "Do you want to come over to mine and have a sleepover on Friday? It'll be fun, I swear."

Bonnibel smiled; she hadn't been invited to a proper sleepover for a while. "Sure."

Lady frowned. "Really? I thought I'd have to do much more convincing to get you to come."

Bonnie laughed. "No, I actually quite like the idea. It'll be fun."

They arrived outside of Bonnibel's classroom, and Lady pulled her in for a tight hug. "Awesome. I'll talk to you about it later. See you at lunch."

Bonnibel smiled to her as she walked down the hallway, entering her classroom and taking her usual seat next to Marceline, who looked incredibly tired. "Hey, Marceline. You look like you haven't slept for a week."

"Something like that." Marceline mumbled. "You wouldn't mind if I took a nap, would you?"

"You can't take naps in class!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Class time is learning time."

"You're such a nerd." Marceline muttered, sitting back and rubbing her eyes.

"Didn't you sleep last night?" Bonnie frowned.

"No." Marceline sighed.

"Why not?" Bonnibel asked, putting a comforting hand on Marceline's shoulder.

"It's kind of personal." Marceline said. "Don't worry about me, Bonnie."

"You can trust me."

Marceline stared at her for a second, finally letting out a small sigh. "I had a bad dream."

Bonnie shot her a reassuring smile. "What about?"

"That's _really_ personal."

"Sorry." Bonnibel apologised. "You know you can talk to me if you ever need anything."

"I can?" Marceline frowned.

"Of course you can." Bonnibel smiled. "We're friends. You can tell me anything, I promise. I care about you."

"I…I didn't think that…" Marceline trailed off, staring down at her feet. "You care about me?"

Bonnibel felt her heart break at how small Marceline sounded. She couldn't believe that Marceline was shocked to learn Bonnibel cared about her. "Of course I do."

"You're…thanks, Bonnie."

"Are you going to tell me about your dreams?" Bonnibel questioned.

Marceline shook her head. "Not yet. That's a bit _too_ intense."

Bonnie smiled. "Okay. Baby steps. If you ever need me you can text me."

"Thanks." Marceline muttered. "Can we talk about something else?"

Bonnie smiled, gesturing towards the front of class. "How about we talk about the work?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, we should probably pay more attention in this lesson." Marceline said. "Even though it's pretty boring sometimes."

"History can be interesting."

"Since when?"

"The dawn of time." Bonnibel replied. "Don't you think it's fun to learn about things that happened in the past?"

"If it involves dinosaurs, then yes." Marceline stated. "But if it involves British politics, then no."

"What's so bad about British politics?" Bonnie asked.

"It's so boring I can literally feel myself falling asleep during it." Marceline sighed. "I'm just glad I live here so we don't have to focus on it as a main topic. If I still lived in England I'd be fucked."

"You used to live in England?" Bonnie frowned, surprised.

"Yeah. Moved here when I was like four."

Bonnibel was interested. "Whoa. That's really cool. Why did you move here?"

"It's a long story." Marceline said. "Basically, my Dad met my Mom when he went to England for a business trip and then he moved there but then he had to move back because of work."

"I bet you can do a really good English accent." Bonnie smiled. She _really_ wanted to ask about Marceline's parents, but she tried her best to change the subject before her nosiness got the better of her.

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't." Marceline wiggled her eyebrows and smirked. "You'll just have to find out."

"You seem to like being mysterious."

Marceline chuckled. "Don't forget aloof."

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Admittedly, Marceline felt better after talking to Bonnibel, but that didn't stop her from turning up on Keila's doorstep straight after school. Of course, Keila was her usual, happy self and didn't notice anything was bothering Marceline until she noticed the dark shadows under Marceline's eyes and how Marceline seemed to be drifting off to sleep halfway through Keila's very interesting story about a party she'd attended a few nights ago. She trailed off in the middle of her story. "You had another bad dream last night, didn't you?"<p>

Marceline nodded. "Yeah."

"You need to tell Simon they're happening again." Keila stated. She really did worry about Marceline; the two girls were very close, and Keila viewed Marceline almost like a sister.

Marceline didn't want Keila to worry. "It was just a one-time thing. I misplaced Hambo."

"Do you know where he is now?" Keila pressed, taking one of Marceline's cold hands in hers.

Marceline shrugged. "Somewhere in the house."

"Find him. The second you get home, I want you to look for him." Keila instructed, gently squeezing Marceline's hand. "Okay?"

"Okay." Marceline murmured. "Can I take a nap?"

"You _always_ have a nightmare when you don't have Hambo." Keila said. "I don't think it's a good idea. Do you want to watch a movie to get your mind off things?"

Marceline nodded, and Keila pulled her in for a hug. "If you get another nightmare, I'm telling Simon."

"Don't." Marceline replied, a little too quickly for Keila's liking. "I don't want him to worry."

"What was your dream about?" Keila asked.

"My Mom." Marceline mumbled.

Keila didn't have to ask anything else. She knew the rest of the dream pretty well, as Marceline had recounted it to her multiple times. "Okay. We'll watch some stupid movie and I'll order pizza and we'll just try to get it out of your mind."

Marceline shot Keila a weak smile. "Yeah. Thanks. You're the best."

Keila smiled back, standing up. "I've been told. Have you told anyone else about your dream?"

"Bonnie knows."

Keila couldn't stop the surprised look from forming. "You told her about everything?"

Marceline shook her head. "No. She just knows I had a bad dream."

"Are you ever going to tell her about everything?" Keila asked.

Marceline shrugged. "Maybe, if she asks. I don't know. She needs to reach a higher level of friendship before she can unlock my tragic backstory."

Keila rolled her eyes. "Did you just talk about life like it's a video game? You're ridiculous."

Marceline chuckled. "Coming from you? You're the one that's hyper 24/7. You really need to chill with the caffeine, man."

Keila noticed that she was taking Marceline's mind off her dream and that Marceline was cheering up. "I need _something_ now that I've quit smoking. Coffee is all I've got."

Marceline smiled. "I'm glad you quit, you know. I don't want to lose you earlier."

"You really need to stop worrying about me. I'm tough, you know. I'm like, the Batman to your Robin." Keila said.

"Okay, I am _not_ Robin." Marceline defended. "Robin _wishes_ he was me."

"In your dreams, Marmalade." Keila teased.

* * *

><p>Bonnibel just couldn't focus on her homework. Usually, she had it all done in an hour, but the thought of Marceline being upset was at the back of her mind and knocking her concentration. She decided to send Marceline a text just to see if she was okay.<p>

Bonnibel: Hi, Marceline. I was just wondering if you were okay, you still seemed kind of upset at school. :)

Marceline was quick to reply, to Bonnibel's relief.

Marceline: cute

Marceline: i'm perfectly fine, i'm at keila's and we're just watching a movie

Bonnibel smiled to herself when she replied.

Bonnibel: Good to know. Text me if you need anything.

Marceline: will do, princess ;)

Bonnie tried to stifle the small smile tugging at her lips. She was no longer annoyed by Marceline's silly nicknames, although she much preferred it when Marceline called her 'Bonnie'.

Bonnibel: What did I tell you about that stupid nickname?

Marceline: omg sorry your majesty didn't mean to offend

Bonnie was happy that Marceline was acting like her usual, sarcastic self. She felt much more confident knowing that Marceline was okay, and suddenly she remembered her homework.

Bonnibel: You're so frustrating at times. I have to go and do my homework now, have fun with Keila.

Marceline: later dude

Bonnibel locked her phone and placed it on her desk. She'd just picked up her pen when it vibrated again. She smiled when she saw the name on the screen. Another text from Marceline.

Marceline: so hey if you wanted to hang out at the weekend that'd be cool I guess

Bonnie's smile was hard to contain at this point. _Marceline_ had actually asked to hang out with her.

Bonnibel: Of course! What do you have in mind?

Marceline: well nothing specific but you know there are thousands of possibilities

Bonnibel: I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I'll see you at school tomorrow.

Marceline: bye, nerd

Bonnie put her phone down and continued on with her homework, which she was finding much easier now that she had confirmed Marceline was feeling better. She couldn't help but worry about Marceline; she'd seen little flashes of her soft side, and Bonnie had figured out that Marceline was the type of person to close herself off rather than let out her emotions, which Bonnie knew wasn't good.

Once Bonnibel had finished her homework, she went downstairs and made herself a cup of chamomile tea. Then, she settled upstairs with a book until she finally went off to sleep.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Friday 28<strong>**th**** February 2014**

Bonnie was at Lady's house, grazing on candy and talking to Lady about how she felt in the town now that she'd settled in.

"I really like it here, you know," Bonnie said as she got herself comfortable where she was sat on Lady's bed. "I've made a whole load of friends and I'm just glad that you guys are so great."

Lady smiled. "You're awesome, too. We won't let Marceline harass you anymore, either."

"If anyone is doing the harassment, it's me." Bonnibel laughed. "But Marceline doesn't seem to mind. She's warmed up to me a lot, actually. We're hanging out tomorrow."

"Wait, what?" Lady exclaimed, nearly dropping the candy bar she was unwrapping. "You weren't kidding when you said you guys are friends? But…that's weird. You guys are like, complete opposites."

"Believe it or not, she's actually kind of a dork." Bonnie smiled, thinking about how cute Marceline was when the two of them were watching Disney movies together. Marceline had kept on pointing out certain things, or making remarks about how much she loved certain films. She was acting like a big kid, and Bonnie thought it was adorable. "She's cool."

"Since when did she let people talk to her?" Lady gawped at Bonnie as if she'd just won the Olympics. "That's like, a miracle."

Bonnie just shrugged, taking a bite from her chocolate bar. "You've just got to be persistent. I think once you let her know you're not going away any time soon, she figures she might as well be your friend."

Lady frowned. "I don't know. She seems pretty scary to me."

"No, she's really nice. You should talk to her." Bonnie said.

"I'm not talking to her without you waiting to defend my life if she decides to punch me." Lady responded.

"She's literally the weakest person on the planet. She tried moving her bed the other day because her phone fell down the side and she couldn't, and then I did it pretty easily." Bonnibel assured. "Just don't tell people that. She doesn't really like people talking to her, but I think you'd get away with it."

Lady looked apprehensive. "Are you sure I should make friends with her? I mean, she always came off as the type of person I usually avoid. You know, thuggish."

"Yeah!" Bonnie exclaimed. "She's really cool, trust me. You always thought the same about Marshall and now you guys are friends."

"Fair point." Lady said. "Fine, I'll try."

Bonnie hugged her. "You're the greatest."

"_If_," Lady began, "You answer me a question."

Bonnie quickly nodded. "Anything."

"Are you gay?"

Bonnibel froze. She felt the exact same way she felt when Marceline told her she'd let it slip that night when she was drunk. "I…how…what makes you, um, think that?"

"Well, when we were buying snacks you stared at some girl's butt," Lady said, "And I've seen you checking girls out before. It's no big deal if you are, I just want you to be yourself around me. You don't need to hide it."

"I…" Bonnibel couldn't find words. Lady was being amazing. "You're the best. Thanks."

Lady smiled. "Well, you're my friend. I want you to be honest with me."

"I'm gay." Bonnie said, surprised by how easily it came out.

"Okay." Lady nodded. "So, what do you want for dinner? McDonalds or pizza?"

Bonnibel was in a state of shock at how casually Lady had just accepted everything. "You really don't care?"

"Of course I don't." Lady laughed. "I doubt anyone else will, either. Have you told anyone else?"

"Marceline knows. I accidentally told her when I was drunk. She was really nice about it and comforted me when I got upset." Bonnie said. "And she gave me ice cream."

"This is Marceline Abadeer we're talking about, right?" Lady frowned.

"Yes." Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "She's really nice, I swear. You have to talk to her at school on Monday."

"Will you be there?"

"Yeah." Bonnie nodded. "I'll introduce you guys."

"Okay." Lady said. "Promise she won't get violent?"

"I don't get why people think she's so scary." Bonnie laughed. "Seriously, she's really cool."

"Maybe because she walks around giving people death glares all day." Lady muttered.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and lightly shoved her. "Don't be mean."

Lady just shrugged. "Seriously, though. What do you want for dinner, McDonald's or pizza?"

"Pizza. I don't want to go out." Bonnibel said, pulling out her phone. "Just get it delivered."

Lady nodded. "Cool. Who're you texting?"

"Nobody," Bonnie laughed, hiding her phone from view as she went onto the conversation with Marceline.

"Ooh," Lady teased, wiggling her eyebrows. "Is it your girlfriend?"

Bonnie burst out laughing. "No, she's just a friend. Now go and order the pizza."

"What do you want?"

"Plain cheese, please." Bonnie requested.

Lady nodded and headed out of the room. Bonnie turned to her phone and typed out a text to Marceline while she didn't have Lady's prying eyes looking over her shoulder.

Bonnibel: I told my friend she could be friends with you so you have to be nice.

Marceline texted back quickly.

Marceline: that depends on which friend it is

Bonnibel: Lady. Or, as you call her, Rainbow.

Marceline: hm let me think about it

Bonnibel: Will you be nice or do I have to buy you food as an incentive?

Marceline: i'll be nice but i'm 100% totes holding you to the food offering

Bonnibel: Did you just say totes?

Marceline: ironically

Bonnibel: Right…

Bonnibel: So, you're going to be nice?

Marceline: yeah

Marceline: aka me keeping my sarcasm to a minimum

Bonnibel: Good. Thanks. :)

Marceline didn't text Bonnibel back, so Bonnie locked her phone and waited for Lady to come back from ordering the pizza. Unfortunately, Bonnibel's phone vibrated when Lady sat back down next to her, and Lady watched over her shoulder as she read the text.

Marceline: so like we're still hanging out tomorrow right

Bonnibel was aware of Lady watching her as she texted back.

Bonnibel: Yep. Am I coming to your house?

Marceline: yeah because reasons

Bonnibel: Reasons such as?

Marceline: top secret reasons

Bonnibel: Can I stay the night? If that's okay, I mean.

Marceline: idk man that's like level 5 friendship and we're on like level 3

Bonnibel laughed at that, whereas Lady just frowned.

Bonnibel: Well, if I stayed over, maybe we could move up to level 5?

Marceline: you can't just skip level 4 that level is fucking sacred man

Bonnibel: You're such a dork. ;)

Marceline: playful insults is a level 4 thing

Bonnibel: You've been playfully insulting me since we met.

Marceline: those were just insults

Marceline: sorry about that by the way

Bonnibel: You're forgiven if we can move up to level 5.

Marceline: you'll have to share a bed with me and my cold feet

Bonnibel: I think I'll live.

Marceline: …fine you can stay over but don't make fun of me

Bonnibel: Why would I make fun of you?

Marceline: you'll see

Bonnibel frowned, but didn't bother texting back as she was painfully aware of Lady reading her texts. Bonnibel looked up to her, and Lady looked in the opposite direction quickly, as if she had been looking that way the entire time. "I know you read my texts."

Lady scoffed. "Did not."

"She said she'd be nice to you, by the way." Bonnibel added.

Lady seemed reassured by this. "Really? That makes the thought of talking to her a little less terrifying."

Bonnibel just rolled her eyes. "Is the pizza ordered?"

"Yep." Lady smiled.

"Cool. I'll give you the money for mine." Bonnie said.

Lady shook her head. "No. You're my guest, you're not doing that. I'm buying."

"Lady -,"

"I'm not letting you pay, and that's final." Lady crossed her arms and shot Bonnie a look which roughly translated to 'my foot is down', so Bonnie accepted that she probably wouldn't change Lady's mind. "Pick a movie or something, we can put that on in the background and just talk."

"Sure." Bonnie nodded, "Put any movie on."

Lady grabbed a random DVD from her shelf and put it in the player. Bonnie didn't bother asking what movie it was, as she doubted that either of them would pay any attention to it.

Once Lady had put the DVD on, she sat back down next to Bonnibel and smiled. "So…seen any cute girls?"

"Oh my God," Bonnibel laughed, hiding her face in her hands and trying not to roll her eyes. "That's why you wanted to know, isn't it?"

"I'm just curious." Lady shrugged, "I like talking about this stuff with my friends. You know about me and Jake."

"All I know is that you guys are together. I don't know any other details about your love life." Bonnibel pointed out.

"Well," Lady started, "We began dating two years ago when -,"

Bonnibel interrupted before Lady could get carried away. "That wasn't me asking about your love life, either. I'm not one for gossip."

Lady pouted. "I just want to do friend things with you. I like talking to you about stuff."

"Well, I haven't seen anyone that I'm attracted to." Bonnibel said. "Happy?"

"Not at all." Lady rolled her eyes. "Come _on_. You've got to have seen someone that you find remotely attractive."

"There are lots of pretty girls around, but none that I would pursue a relationship with." Bonnie explained. "But you never know what could happen. Someone may come along in the near future."

Lady smiled. "You're one of those people that doesn't really get crushes, aren't you?"

"You think?" Bonnie replied. "I had a bad experience once, and I don't really like the idea of it happening again."

"What happened?" Lady asked.

"A straight-girl crush gone wrong." Bonnie sighed. "She was a really good friend of mine."

"_Was_? I take it that didn't go down very well, then." Lady said. She put an arm around Bonnibel. "That must've been hard on you."

Bonnie nodded, trying not to think about the day she lost her best friend. "Yeah. Why do you think I get so scared when people figure out I like girls?"

Lady gave Bonnie a squeeze, before letting go. "I can promise you that nobody here will be mean about it. I mean, look at Gumball. He came out almost a year ago and he's much happier. We all already knew, though. His crush on Marshall is _pretty_ obvious."

"You all know about that?" Bonnie laughed. "Wow."

"I think even Marshall knows about it. Marceline definitely does." Lady said.

"Yeah, I told her." Bonnie explained. "Gumball wanted me to ask her if Marshall likes guys and she kept asking why I wanted to know. She promised she wouldn't tell."

"I think it's funny how Gumball thinks it's this big secret he's got." Lady chuckled. "He stares at Marshall's butt like there's no tomorrow. He's as good as hiding it as Finn is at hiding his crush on you."

"He doesn't still like me, does he?" Bonnie groaned. "I don't want to let him down."

"Tell him you like girls." Lady shrugged. "Problem solved. He'll get over it. He gets crushes like this a lot."

"I just don't want to hurt him." Bonnibel said. "He's a really nice kid."

Lady smiled. "I know."

Bonnie lay awake that night; in all honesty, she was rather nervous for tomorrow. She was going to be spending the night with Marceline. She wondered if they'd stay up talking or if they'd spend the time in comfortable silence. She couldn't help but wonder why Marceline asked her not to make fun of her. What could she possibly do that Bonnibel would make fun of her for?

Bonnibel couldn't help but be excited to spend time with Marceline. She did really enjoy her company, something she didn't think she'd ever do when she first met Marceline.

It just goes to show that first impressions aren't everything.


End file.
